


To Save The Future

by MissSerpentia



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Angst with a Happy Ending, Aromantic Asexual Pidge | Katie Holt, Bilingual Lance (Voltron), Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Canon Compliant, Canon Universe, Change the Past, Cuban Lance (Voltron), F/M, Fix the future, Galra Keith, Galra Keith (Voltron), Gay Keith (Voltron), Gay Shiro, Korean Keith (Voltron), Lance (Voltron) Angst, Lance (Voltron)-centric, M/M, Mutual Pining, Older Lance (in mind), Pining Keith (Voltron), Pining Lance (Voltron), Platonic Latte, Platonic Relationships, Season Spoilers, Time Travel AU, back in time
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-27
Updated: 2019-04-14
Packaged: 2019-05-08 06:05:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 67,402
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14688041
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissSerpentia/pseuds/MissSerpentia
Summary: I thought we could win. I really did. But this... This isn't what I expected. Now I lost the love of my life, my husband and there isn't a way to bring him back... or so I thought.OR:The Voltron Coalition is losing and Pidge makes a time machine. Lance gets sent back to the beginning to fix the war.Spoilers for all seven seasons.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I really hope you enjoy this story. I couldn’t find any stories like this except for one and I really enjoyed it. 
> 
> I was actually surprised to see not many stories like this and I wanted to contribute to this fandom so I decided to make my own back-in-time, fix-the-future type of story.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Please. You’re our only hope.”
> 
> “NO! Pidge! KATIE! Please! I can’t leave you guys as well!”
> 
> “I know Lance... but this is the only way. You have to do this.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoy this story. I worked really hard on this so I hope you all enjoy. 
> 
> I already have a couple of drafts for the next couple of chapters.

_I thought we could win. I really did. But this... This isn't what I expected. Now, I lost the love of my life, my husband and there isn't a way to bring him back... or so I thought._

\----

Lance Kogane-McClain, age twenty five, shot up from his bed screaming as tears streamed out of his ocean blue eyes and down his tan cheeks.

He looked around frantically, his heart pounding in his chest as he took in everything in his room with blurred vision. When he finally came to terms that he was in no immediate danger, he curled in on himself and started sobbing heavily, the memories assaulting him and turning him into a bawling mess.

He thought back to about four years ago when he lost everything that mattered to him, when their side of the war started to lose.

\----

_"You all ready for this? This might be the end of the Galra's reign over the universe," Shiro asked, his image appearing on Lance's screen. Lance grinned as he cheered happily, "I can't wait! Once this is over, we just have to make sure everything is under control for Princess Allura and Lotor and then we can head back to Earth for good!"_

_"Calm down Lance. We still need to wipe out any Galra that refuse to be under Lotor and Allura's rule," Keith spoke, his face appearing on screen with a fond expression as he looked at the tan male. Lance rolled his eyes before speaking excitedly, his eyes sparkling like blue sapphires, "You're just scared of what will happen after we finish this war. You'll have to come back to Earth with me and face my family. Heaven forbid what they do to you when they find out you married me in **SPACE** without getting their blessings first, or even meeting them in fact. Mama will tear you apart before demanding a proper wedding where all my family is present."_

_"I can handle it and besides, I wouldn't mind getting married to you again Lance," Keith spoke confidently, a small smirk dancing on his lips as he quirked an eyebrow. Lance flushed slightly at the expression and was about to speak up when Pidge's image appeared right beside Keith's. She gagged before she spoke, her tone and expression laced with mock disgust, "Ugh! You two are so disgusting. Stop with your flirting. Sometimes I wished you two never admitted your feelings for each other but then I remembered that you two were even worse with your stupid rivalry than you are with your flirting now. Sexual tension and all."_

_Lance was about to retort back when Allura's face appeared just beside Pidge's, her expression stern as she spoke, "I don't mean to bother Paladins but now isn't the time to be arguing over Lance and Keith's relationship. I happen to think it's adorable how they end up together but you can continue this banter after this fight."_

_"Of course sweetheart," Lotor's face appeared right beside Allura's with a fond look on his face. Lance mocked gagging before he spoke, his tone teasing, "Whipped. Oh, how the mighty have fallen."_

_"You're not any better buddy," Hunk spoke, his image appearing as well as he teased the Cuban. Lance huffed but didn't speak up as Shiro cut in, his expression exasperated, "Can you all stop with all this teasing? We'll get back to it when we finally end this war."_

_They all nodded in unison before Lotor spoke up, his blue eyes narrowed, "Okay. Keep the other battle cruisers busy while the blue paladin sneaks in with me. We'll find the witch, the blue paladin will make it so that she can't move and then I'll end her with the Quintessence Disintegrator. After that is done, we will order all Galra to pledge to my rule and if they don't, we end them. Victory or death."_

_Allura made a sound of distress in the back of her throat but was silenced when Shiro spoke up, his tone laced with pity, "Princes, I know it is not the Altean way to just end someone's life but the Galra will not listen unless we do it this way. We can only hope that they will turn themselves in and allow themselves to be ruled under you and Lotor."_

_Allura stayed silent as Lotor spoke softly, doing his best to soothe his distressed fiancée, "Allura, my empress, you have to understand that they have been under my father and mother's command for as long as they can remember. They have picked up on it and will have trouble changing their views. We can only hope for the best that they will change their ideals but if it is out of our control, we will have no choice but to end them. I don't want to end my mother either, Allura but I have no choice. She's too far gone for us to help her."_

_The Altean slowly nodded her head, tears swimming in her blue eyes but she forced them not to spill down her cheeks as Lotor spoke up, his question directed towards the paladins who stayed quiet when he was comforting Allura, "Are we clear on the plan?"_

_"Yup," Lance spoke up, his blue eyes hard as he tightened his grip on his lion's controls until he was sure his knuckles were white under the suit. Blue purred in his mind, calming him down as much as possible and sending him reassurance that she would keep him safe. Lance took a deep breath in as Lotor spoke, "Blue paladin, follow me once you are ready."_

_Lance nodded as Lotor's face disappeared from his screen followed by the other's except for Keith. The blue paladin was about to shift his controls and push on the pedal to move Blue forward and follow Lotor's ship when Keith's voice halted any further movement, "Lance."_

_"Yea babe?" Lance asked softly, looking at his husband with his eyes gleaming with concern at hearing his husband's voice strained and slightly pained. The red paladin sighed before he whispered softly, his expression showing his worry, "Come back to me okay? I don't want to lose you. I can't afford to lose you."_

_Lance smiled softly, his heart touched at Keith's worry for him before he agreed, "I will. You have to promise me that you'll come back to me as well okay? We both know that you're too reckless for your own good and that you don't think about your actions before you do it."_

_"Okay. I promise. Stay safe. I love you Lance," Keith smirked before he cut the line with the Cuban male, the red lion charging forward as Red fired his magma beam at one of the many battle cruisers that were circling around the other lions. Lance chuckled to himself before he followed after Lotor's ship. Lance shifted the controls of his lion, allowing the lion to fly forward just behind Lotor's ship as they made sure to stay out of view from all the other Galra ships. Lance let Blue attach her claws at the side of the main Galra ship that Haggar was in. He made sure that Blue was out of sight and wouldn't draw attention before he muttered softly, "I'll be right back okay girl?"_

_Blue let a low growl in concern, worried for her paladin's safety in which said paladin just smiled before he spoke, seeing Lotor leave his ship from the corner of the screen, "I'll be alright. I made a promise to Keith to come back. I need to go now girl."_

_Blue opened her mouth to allow Lance to exit her cockpit. Lance slowly left using his jet pack to boost himself up to reach the hole Lotor made with his sword. Lance flew in and landed softly in the awfully quiet corridor of the ship, Lotor by his side as they looked around. Lance summoned his bayard, allowing it to take form as his blaster before he asked, "So where does your mom usually stay at? And where are we exactly?"_

_"That witch is not my mother. My mother died a long time ago and I'm uncertain about where that witch could possibly be right now. I have only seen her when my father summoned me. We will have to look everywhere for her. Hopefully, she's just in the throne room, if not, she might be in her lair," Lotor spoke softly as he led the blue paladin down the corridor, "And about where we are, we're on the second level of this ship. The throne room would be on the first level while her lair is down at the basement. Allura has stated that you work better and get a clear shot of the target when you are in a higher position than they are so we will stay on this level and get rid of the witch this way."_

_Lance hummed his acknowledgement as he looked around the corridors, his eyes narrowed as he made sure to keep his eyes peeled so that there wouldn't be anyone sneaking up on the two of them. Lotor stuck to the wall around the corner and Lance followed suit, confused but awaited further instructions from the Galran emperor. Lotor mumbled softly under his breath as he stuck his head out slightly to look out of the corridor, "There's about ten or so Galra robot guards. Think you can take them out in one go?"_

_"Do you know who you're talking to? I got so much better than I was three years ago," Lance scoffed before he moved to switch to the opposite wall, making sure to keep out of sight as he willed his blaster to take form as his sword. He took a deep and steady breath in before he charged out, slicing at the guards and taking them down before they had the chance to even fight back. He exhaled heavily, sweat dripping down the side of his temple as Lotor took his place beside the paladin, "Not bad. We should get a move on though. I hope the other paladins are doing fine without the blue lion assisting them. We can only hope it isn't that bad outside that we need Voltron."_

_Lance nodded, worry seeping into his body but he shook it off as he followed Lotor who stopped when they seemed to reach a railing of some sort. Lotor made a slight gesture with his arm making Lance stop and, unable to stop his curiosity from taking over, peeked over the prince's shoulder and down the railing to see a draped figure standing on top of what looked like a floating circle hovering a couple of feet off the ground. Lotor looked down, his blue eyes darting around the throne room like he was searching for something before he looked back to Lance, bringing a finger up to his lips to signal to the Cuban to stay silent before he used the same finger to point off to the side._

_Lance followed where the emperor's finger was pointing at to see an air vent. Lance looked at said vent in confusion before he looked back to Lotor who only rolled his eyes. Lotor pointed back to the witch, back to the air vent, and then pointed to himself. Lance finally understood, giving a thumbs up to the half-Altean as he willed his bayard to shift to its sniper form. Lotor shuffled quietly towards the air vent before entering and disappearing from Lance's view. Lance laid flat on his stomach, positioning his sniper to lock on Haggar who was facing away from his direction._

_Lance lifted his head away from the scope and scanned the lower level, seeing Lotor's white hair stand out from out of the corner of his eye. He looked over to see that the emperor was pulling out his sword as he charged at Haggar whose head snapped up at the sudden battle cry Lotor let out. Haggar moved out of the way just as soon as Lotor brought the sword down on her head. She let out a stifled sounding growl before she disappeared in a cloud of black, only to appear behind Lotor who ducked out of the way to avoid her nails tearing into him. Lance frowned when he realized that it would be difficult to get the witch to stand still so he decided to take it up with luck._

_He positioned the scope on the area where he suspected the witch to appear next and took a deep breath in before he signaled to Lotor to jump out of the way to which the emperor surprisingly caught. Just as soon as the paladin pulled the trigger of the sniper, Lotor jumped out of the way allowing the plasma blast to make contact with Haggar's chest._

_Haggar let out a scream of pain as she collapsed on her knees. Lotor took out the Quintessence Disintegrator from his armor, attaching it to his sword as he charged at the witch who suddenly disappeared from her place on the floating circle. Lance panicked his eyes scanning the lower level frantically to see the witch down on the ground, gathering an ominous purple colored plasma ball in her hands._

_Lance screeched loudly that caught Lotor's attention, "Lotor! Get her! She's using her magic! Don't let her!"_

_Haggar slammed her hands along with the purple ball down to the ship's floor just as Lotor jumped off the floating circle, bringing the sword over Haggar's head. Haggar looked up to see Lotor descending down on her and she disappeared in a cloud of black before the blade could slice through her. Lance shook slightly in place when the ship started crackling with purple lightning. His eyes widened and he screamed as he scrambled to his feet, "Lotor! We have to get out of here! This place might collapse!"_

_"Follow me blue paladin!" Lotor yelled back and Lance jumped off the railing he was perched upon, his jet pack activating to soften his landing slightly as he stumbled towards Lotor who was motioning frantically to him before Lotor yelled, "Paladin! Behind you!"_

_Lance snapped his head over his shoulder and he let out a yell of pain when an inky black blast connected with his lower back. He could feel blood dripping down the wound the blast made making him stagger slightly, pain overwhelming him but he forced himself to keep moving._

_Lance and Lotor ran side by side as the ship started to rumble uncontrollably and Lance could see cracks appearing on the ground that they were running on. He panicked, calling out to Blue - using their bond - whose roar was immediately heard from outside the main ship before the ship started to shake uncontrollably._

_Lance flinched when his com cackled to life and Keith's panicked voice sounded loudly in his ear, "Lance! Are you okay? The ship looks about to explode and Blue is trashing around. She sounds worried and angry. Are you alright?!"_

_"I'm fine babe. I just need to find a way to get out of this damn ship with Lotor," Lance huffed as Lotor took a sharp turn around the corner and he followed straight after, praying to whatever deity that was listening that Lotor knew where he was going. Lance couldn't ponder any longer when the area behind him exploded causing him to be flung forward and debris to fall down on him. Lotor, who was a couple of feet away from the Cuban turned around when the explosion sounded and yelled out in panic, "Paladin!"_

_Lance's right leg was buried underneath heavy rubble and Lance let out a groan of pain as Lotor ran back to his side, pushing the large pieces of rubble off his leg and pulled the male to his feet. Lotor swung one of Lance's arm over his shoulder and spoke, "Come on blue paladin. We must get out of here. We are uncertain if Haggar turned this ship into a ticking time bomb but we shouldn't stay too long to find out."_

_Lance nodded weakly as he limped forward, unable to feel his right leg as he used Lotor as a support. Lotor ran down the corridors, making two rights and then a left before skidding to a halt in front of what looked like a hangar for escape pods. Lotor guided Lance towards the controls before he started pushing what looked like random glowing purple buttons to Lance before the hatch opened. Lance let out a groan of pain as Lotor supported him up slightly and said, "Come on. We need to get out. Your lion is waiting for you and I'm sure she's worried."_

_Lotor guided himself and Lance towards the hatch and just as soon as Lance secured his helmet over his head, they were sucked out into space where Blue immediately appeared and opened her mouth, allowing the two to enter her cockpit. Blue purred worriedly when she realized her paladin was in pain and Lance just chuckled as he spoke, "Don't worry girl. I've dealt with worse. Let's just get Lotor back to his ship and tell the others that the mission failed. We need to retreat or else we'll suffer casualties."_

_Blue let out a low growl as her reply before Lance took hold of her controls, pushing on her pedal weakly to not damage his leg any more than it already was as they headed towards where Lotor's ship was. Lotor looked at Lance and asked softly with a tinge of worry in his voice, "Are you alright blue paladin?"_

_"I'll be fine. I can't really feel my leg but I'm sure Blue is working on healing it as we're speaking," Lance spoke softly as he kept his gaze forward, his eyes darting as he avoided the Galra ships that were scattered around the place. He felt Blue's soothing essence wrap itself around his leg as well as his back and her Quintessence started to slowly heal the wounds that Lance acquired. He let a small sigh of bliss from the relief as he flew them back to Lotor's ship and allowed the half-Galra emperor to leave the cockpit. He instantly surged forward and headed to the battlefield, shooting Blue's ice ray at one of the battle cruisers that was sneaking up on Shiro. Shiro's face appeared on his screen as the leader spoke, "Thank you Lance. Is everything alright? Did it go well?"_

_"We have to pull back. Haggar escaped before Lotor could get her with the Quintessence Disintegrator," Lance spoke as he directed Blue to shoot her tail laser at the approaching fleet. Shiro frowned before he called out to the other paladins, "Guys, we have to retreat. Allura, prepare a wormhole to get us out of here."_

_"Not to burst your bubble, but I'm a little busy here Shiro," Hunk called out before he got cut off when his lion got shot by one of the Galra ships. He let out a groan of pain as Lance called out, "Hunk, buddy, are you alright?"_

_Hunk grunted slightly, not providing a coherent response as Lance charged in the direction where his best friend was, using his lion's mouth cannon to cut through the Galra ship that hit Yellow, "Let's get you out of here Hunk."_

_"No need to tell me twice," Hunk groaned as the yellow lion lunged out of the way and Lance tried to follow when Keith's face appeared on his screen, all panicked looking as he screeched, " **LANCE!** "_

_Before Lance could question his husband on what was the problem, Red rammed Blue on her side and Lance was sent flying off, only catching a slight glimpse of a large ray hitting Red head on, enveloping the lion. Lance's eyes widened and he screamed as he shifted Blue to become steady, " **KEITH!** "_

_"Babe! Are you okay? Answer me!" Lance called out to the red paladin only getting static back as a reply. His blue eyes started watering as he called out yet again, his tone on the brink of hyperventilating, "Keith! This isn't funny. Answer me!"_

_"Lance! Get him out of there! We need to go now! That ship is about to explode!" Shiro's voice cut through Lance's com, snapping him out of his frantic state. Lance quickly shifted Blue's controls making her fly forward towards Red and wrapping her claws around the red lion. Lance pushed on the pedals hard and Blue heaved Red back to the team where the wormhole opened._

_The paladins flew in just in time as the Galra ship exploded. Lance rushed Red to the castle and to his hangar before he rushed to Blue's hangar and setting her down. Blue lowered her head and allowed her frantic paladin out of her cockpit before he dashed off towards Red's hangar, ignoring the other paladins who followed after him as well as the slight twinge of pain in his leg that hasn't fully healed even with the help of Blue's quintessence._

_Lance skidded to a stop in front of Red who immediately lowered his head and opened his mouth, allowing the blue paladin to scramble in. Lance choked on a sob as tears filled in his ocean blue eyes when they landed on the bruised and bloodied form of his husband that was slumped in his chair. Lance rushed over and pulled Keith up and into his arms bridal style. Keith's eyes fluttered open slightly and he choked out, "L-Lance..."_

_"Shh.. Don't speak baby. Save your strength," Lance muttered as he carefully but as quickly as he could left the cockpit and called out to the others, "Get a healing pod ready! I don't know how long he will last and how extensive his wounds are!"_

_Coran immediately rushed out of the hangar and headed in the direction of the healing bay, Lance hurrying after him as he tried his best not to rattle the already hurt Keith while the other paladins followed quietly behind them. Keith lifted a bloodied hand up to Lance's cheek and whispered hoarsely, "La-Lance, I... I don't think I-I'll last much long-longer."_

_Lance could feel the tears that built up in his eyes spill down his cheeks as he sobbed out, "D-Don't speak like you're going to die."_

_"I-I'm sorry I couldn't ke-keep my promise to you," Keith spoke softly as he smiled weakly up at Lance who could only stare tearfully down at Keith who choked on his breath, "I'm so-sorry. I re-really wanted to me-meet your family when we we-were done with this war."_

_"S-S-Stop. Save your breath. Please, just save your strength and stay alive," Lance choked on his sobs as he rushed down the corridor, hoping to get to the healing bay as quickly as possible. Keith continued, his eyelids fluttering slightly, "Please do-don't blame yourself for what I d-did. I-I'd rather it be m-me than you. I-I love you too much to se-see you hurt."_

_"Keith, baby, I love you too. You should have let me get hit... B-Blue has healing abilities, she would have healed me a-as much as she could. R-Red can't heal. Yo-You know h-his abilities are more offensive. P-Please stop speaking like you're say-saying good bye," Lance was full on crying and he barely registered the cries and sobs coming from the other paladins behind him. Lance felt so weak as he entered the healing bay where Coran was furiously pushing buttons on the control pad, fear evident on the Altean's face. Keith pushed himself up, lifting his head and he muttered softly as his breath fanned against Lance's trembling lips, "I... I will always lo-love you, Lance Kogane-McClain. I'm so sorry for lea-leaving you like th-this. Can you gra-grant me one las-last favor?"_

_Lance bit his trembling lips before he nodded frantically, his tears splashing against Keith's bloodied cheeks as Keith smiled up at the tan male, "Kiss me."_

_Lance slowly leaned down, his eyes closed yet tears still managed to escape his closed lids and down his cheeks. Keith used the last of his strength to meet him halfway, their lips pushing urgently against the other. Keith smiled softly into the kiss, a few tears slipping from his closed lids as Lance tried to deepen the kiss only for Keith's head to drop and rest gently against Lance's collarbone where his breathing started growing shallow until his chest just stopped rising and falling._

_Lance slowly sunk to his knees, cradling Keith in his arms as he allowed the tears to continue falling, not registering anything around him as his entire world crumbled into pieces. Lance started screaming, burying his face into Keith's matted hair as his loud screams of pain echoed in the castle._

\----

Lance sobbed as the memory of his husband dying in his arms resonated loudly in his mind. He barely registered the knock on his door until Pidge's voice cut through the air with a 'whoosh' of the door, "Lance."

Lance lifted his head from in between his knee caps and he looked up to meet Pidge's dark brown eyes with his own blood shot eyes. Pidge matured the most out of all the paladins being the youngest one when they first joined in this intergalactic war against the Galra.

Pidge's short light brown hair was now long and reached the middle of her back in layers. Her bangs framed her matured face delicately and she got rid of the glasses her brother, Matthew Holt, gave her. Her body finally filled out to match her age at twenty two, making it difficult on the team to prevent the male alien race from trying to get a chance with the young beautiful paladin even with the scars that littered her body, most specifically the scar that was located at the edge of her right eye.

Lance muttered softly as he shifted his gaze away from Pidge to the ground, "Is something wrong Pidge?"

"Not really. I... I have something that I really need to discuss with the team," Pidge said softly, brushing a strand of her hair behind her ear. Lance didn't budge and he muttered as he flopped back on the bed which he once shared with Keith, "You can go on Pidge. I don't think I'm needed in that meeting."

Pidge sighed as she walked up to Lance who was curled into a ball on the bed and sat down beside him, reaching over to run her fingers through his brown locks, "As a matter of fact, I think you are the one I need the most there."

Lance slowly uncurled himself from the ball he made himself into and sat up, looking down at Pidge as he asked with slight confusion and curiosity laced in his voice, "Me? What could you possibly need me there for? I'm sure Allura, Lotor, and Matt are the ones you need the most there."

"Just trust me in this Lance. I want you there when I tell everyone what I need to say," Pidge stood up from the edge of the bed and held a hand out for the taller male to take. Lance looked at her outstretched hand hesitantly before taking it and allowing her to pull him off the bed and onto his feet. Pidge wrapped her fingers around his wrist and started tugging him out of his and Keith's room and Lance allowed her to drag him out the room and in the direction of the control room.

Lance looked around the empty and quiet corridors of the castle and he felt tears building up in his eyes when he didn't hear the normal whistling that came from the kitchen where Hunk was normally cooking, when he didn't hear the soft speaking of Shiro's authoritative voice coming from the control room, and when he didn't hear the clashing of metal against metal coming from the training deck where Keith was normally trashing the castle's robots.

Lance pushed back the tears that wanted to make itself known as they entered the control room where Allura, Lotor, Coran, and Matt were waiting. Lance let his eyes scan the occupants of the room to get an idea about what Pidge wanted to discuss as well as taking in the changes of their appearance over the past nine years.

Allura didn't change much appearance-wise except for the fact that she shape-shifted her hair to be short instead of long due to the inconveniences that came with long hair as well as changing the color from her silver white to a light blue that matched with the lion that she was piloting once again. Her normally bright and sparkling blue eyes however, were now dulled out and looked empty as she scanned the room.

Lotor was standing beside Allura, his expression hard. He didn't change much in appearance either just like Allura except his long hair was tied into a high ponytail. After being wed to Allura, he decided to embrace his Altean side rather than his Galran side and it showed on his face. The mark of the chosen that had once appeared on his cheeks during the trip to Oriande was now permanently visible on his cheeks with a slight white glow to it against his purple skin. His blue eyes were always seeking out Allura, making sure she was safe.

Coran didn't change much except that he looked much older than he actually was in Altean years. The years of the war and the emotions he experienced due to the loss of the people he cared about taking a toll on his normally upbeat personality.

Matt's hair was cut short to how he had it before he went missing during the Kerberos mission. His face was slightly worn out from the war and he gained more scars on his face and neck - more specifically the large scar that started at his hairline and went down his cheek and ended at his jawline. His eyes were dulled down due to the fact that he lost his lover, Shiro, two years after Keith died.

Lance continued to allow Pidge to drag him up to the others before he mumbled a small greeting when he was close enough to them to which they replied back to softly. Pidge finally uncurled her fingers from Lance's wrist before she spoke, "I know that there hasn’t been much to look forward to these past four years especially after... our first loss."

Lance squeezed his eyes shut, feeling tears gather behind closed lids at the reminder before he pushed the tears back as Pidge spoke, "I know there's no replacing what we lost but Shiro, Hunk, and Keith wouldn't want us to be like this."

Lance looked away, staring out the large window of the control room but his attention snapped back to Pidge when she blurted out, "But I think I might have a solution to end this war, or at least make it so that we have a chance."

"What do you mean Pidge?" Allura spoke as she stood by her husband who wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her close to his side. Pidge took a deep breath in before she answered, "I have been working on something ever since... ever since Hunk passed last year. I feel like it is our last resort to change everything that has happened these past nine years."

Pidge fiddled with her shirt before she spoke, looking straight at Lance, "I have calculated all the possibilities with the help of Slav, we both think you're the best option to do this."

"Huh?" Lance looked confused before Pidge took a deep breath in and dropped the bomb, "I created a time machine. I can send only one of us back."

Lance froze and everyone instantly snapped their heads to Pidge as Lotor asked, his shock noticeable even with the blank look on his face, "But how green paladin?"

"I remember how Allura told me of the time when the castle made a wormhole that seemed to be a time traveling device. I was hoping that I would be able to imitate the wormhole and make a smaller portal that would send someone back to their past self," Pidge spoke as she eyed the occupants of the room. She exhaled deeply before continuing, "I talked to Slav about the possibilities of time travel and he confirmed that it is possible. I also discussed with him that if ever I actually managed to successfully make a time machine, who in the team is the best possible candidate to send back. He said that the best option is Lance."

All eyes instantly went to the tall Cuban and Lance choked out weakly, "M-Me? Why me? Why not Allura? Or even Lotor?"

Pidge sighed before she ran her fingers through her hair, untangling a few knots in the process, "I had suggested that to Slav but he instantly refused just as soon as I suggested it. He said that you have the most potential to get all of us out of this war alive and make it that we win early. Allura and Lotor are unable to do that. They are both leaders. You on the other hand support the group. You would be able to stop things from the shadows, make it so that everything goes according to your plan. Allura and Lotor will take charge and do something drastic that could further danger our chances at this war. You will be able to choose the right choice, weighing the pros and cons of your choices and actions. You can make it so that we will all end up with who we are supposed to be with. You with Keith, Shiro with Matt, Hunk and Shay, and Allura and Lotor."

Lance stayed quiet and everyone waited his response, getting the shock of their life by his response, "No."

"What?" Coran finally spoke up, shocked as Lance repeated himself firmly, "No. I won't do it. I can't do it."

"Why do you believe that you can't Lance?" Allura spoke and Lance looked down at his feet as he mumbled softly, "I just can't. You all believe that I can do this but I really can't. What will happen if I mess up? What will happen if I do something and I make this war worse? I can't risk losing any of you anymore. I already lost my husband. I lost my hero. I lost my best friend. I can't risk losing any of you as well if I fuck something up."

Pidge stayed quiet before she shook her head and said, walking up to the blue paladin, "I can help you with that."

"Huh?" Lance looked confused as Pidge dug into her pocket and handed him a rectangular object that looked similar to a phone. Lance looked at it as Pidge continued, "That's the timeline of everything that happened during the war. I made sure to put as much detail as possible. I created the time machine so that you can bring back whatever you want with you. But you have to be careful, if anyone sees something that they shouldn't we will have a problem. Of course, you can tell people you're from the future. This device will be able to bring their memories of the future back to them but you have to trust them that they won't tell anyone else or mess up. You will just need to type in their name and flash the screen at their face. They will go into a trance like state before coming back with their memories.”

Lance bit his lip uncertain until Pidge spoke up, her voice soft and begging, "Please. You're our only hope."

Lance shook his head furiously, tears gathering in his eyes as he looked at the other occupants of the room for help, "NO! Pidge! KATIE! Please! I can't leave you guys as well."

Pidge sighed before whispering, "I know Lance... but this is the only way. You have to do this."

Lance bit his trembling lip before he took a deep breath in and looked at Allura as he pleaded, "Princess, do you really think I should do this? We can always exchange places."

Allura tilted her head to meet Lotor's eyes and they seemed to be communicating before Allura looked back at Lance and nodded her head, "I think you should Lance. You don't give yourself enough credit. I trust you fully to help us end this war. I trust you Lance. I know you can change this future that we have."

"Allura is correct blue paladin," Lotor spoke softly as he tightened his hold on Allura's waist. Lotor spoke, "If my empress trusts you, I will as well. I know that you will be able to bring me to the good side and make me realize that my father and mother's reign in this universe is wrong. I know you will be able to correct my ways and accept me."

"Lance, you - out of everyone in the paladins - are the easiest to communicate with. You're easy going and you know how to interact with people and make them feel welcome. I know that if anyone can help turn this war around, it's you," Matt spoke with a small smile tugging at his lips before he said teasingly, "Just make sure you find me and my father early on though. I think that would greatly help us in this war if I work side by side with you guys early."

"My boy, I still remember the day when you first arrived here and we talked about our home planets. I know that it will be hard to leave this family after you've grown so attached but once you go back, our whole family will be complete. I know you are destined for great things Number Three. I believe you will be able to help us when we need it the most," Coran spoke softly, twirling his mustache around his finger. Pidge smiled at the others before she turned to face Lance once again, "You see? We all believe you can do this. Now, the question is, do you believe in yourself to do this?"

Lance stayed quiet, before he took a deep breath in and hardened his resolve, "Okay. I know I can do this."

"Good. We should get you prepared. You can bring a bag with you as well as any items you wish to not lose or forget in this timeline. Once you go through the time machine, everything in this time will seize to exist and everything that you leave here will disappear forever," Pidge spoke as Lance nodded. Pidge smiled and whispered softly, a soft look adorning her face, "Keith would be so proud of you Lance."

Lance smiled softly, tears gathering in his eyes when it finally sunk in that he will be able to see everyone he lost, including his husband again. Pidge looked around before saying, "Meet me back here when you get everything that you need."

Lance nodded before turning on his heel and leaving to head back to his room where he started to look for a bag that wouldn't draw too much attention. Once he found one, - one that he knew was not easy to destroy - he started packing all his important items such as his and Keith's bayard, Keith's knife from the Blade of Marmora which he could use since he **_mated_** \- Lance still scoffed at the word - with Keith, the phone Coran gave him nine years ago, and some photo albums that had pictures of him and his space family as well as photo albums of him and Keith. He walked towards his bed and lifted the pillow to see his and Keith's wedding rings attached to a chain. He lifted the chain off, watching the rings dangle and clash against each other before he unclipped the chain and attached it to his neck, allowing the cool metals to rest against his warm sun-kissed skin.

Once he was certain that he had everything of importance, he looked around the room and smiled sadly as he whispered into the semi-empty room, "Good bye. I'll see you again soon."

He turned on his heel and left towards the control room where he knew the others were waiting patiently for him. He took in the sight of the large black box that was located near Pidge's feet as she fiddled with something in her hands. Everyone looked up once they heard the swishing sound of the doors opening and Lance approached them, looking at each one of them. Pidge smiled before she pranced towards Lance and handed him a slightly heavy block. He grunted at the weight and looked at the block in confusion before looking at Pidge with the same expression as Pidge explained, "That's my gift to you. It's like that Olkari cube that copies what you say. I reprogrammed it so that it would store data and information instead of just copying and repeating what you say. It activates with your fingerprint, and yes I already put in your fingerprint, don't ask how. It should have translations from Altean to English and Galran to English although you don't need it anymore but you can't be too safe. It should also have instructions on how to make the device to make it possible to contact Earth so that you can talk to your family again unlike waiting about six years to contact them and yes it also includes the materials you need and their locations so you don't have to worry about that. Everything I know about technology and the planets that we've visited so far or I searched on are there so that it can guide you in case of cultural barriers and stuff. I also put in some of Hunk's recipes just in case you want to be able to cook and yes it also includes what ingredients to use and how they look like. It's almost like a guide for space."

Lance smiled, stuffing the block into his bag before he leaned down and enveloped Pidge into a tight hug, lifting her off her feet as he muttered into her shoulder, "Thanks Pidge."

"Anything for you Lance," Pidge spoke softly as she wrapped her arms around Lance's neck as she muttered, "You ready for this?"

"Ready as I'll ever be," Lance replied back as he placed the short woman on her feet yet again and looked at the others as he nodded in their direction, "I promise to make everything right."

"We know. We trust you Lance," Allura smiled as she walked away from Lotor's side towards Lance before pulling him into a tight hug as she whispered, "Did I ever tell you why you were able to bond with all the lions and why they allowed you to pilot them?"

"No," Lance muttered softly as Allura explained softly, her breath fanning against his ear, "It's because of your bond with each of the paladins. Each lion has a designated pilot and yet, they always allowed you to pilot them whenever it was necessary. You are the heart of Voltron, you are our support even if we don’t always voice it. You fill the void that we have in ourselves and you make us feel complete. You are able to connect with all the lions because of your supportive and caring personality.”

Lance stayed quiet, feeling tears gather in his eyes as Allura continued, "We love you Lance. Don't forget that. You will always be our blue paladin. No one could ever replace you. Blue will always choose you, over and over again. You have a deep and strong bond with her out of all the lions. Your bonds with the lions will follow you back through time and space so don’t ever doubt that you can’t do this. The lions in the past will help you whenever you need them.”

The tears that gathered in Lance's eyes spilled over as he wrapped his arms around Allura's waist, placing his chin on top of the princess' head as he thanked her, "Thank you Princess. I promise to fix everything. I promise to make you realize early that Lotor is the one for you. I will make sure that you will forgive the Galra race early on."

Allura smiled as she pulled away from the hug and she stepped out of his personal space and back to Lotor with tears latched on her eyelashes. Lance turned to face Pidge and nodded, "I'm ready Pidge."

"Okay. I'm going to send you back almost ten years ago on the day that Shiro crash lands back on Earth, more specifically after we finish with the flight simulator and head back to our rooms. Remember, you have to be as low-key as possible so that no one is suspicious so you have to act like your teenage self again," Pidge spoke as she knelt beside the large box which Lance suspected was the time machine. She started fiddling with what looked like buttons and she looked up once again, smiling, "I know you can do this. We're so proud of you Lance."

"Thank Pidge," Lance muttered softly as he adjusted the bag on his back and said, "I'll see you soon."

"Younger me, you mean," Pidge chuckled before looking back at the machine and said, "I'll open the portal now."

Lance nodded and Pidge stepped away from the machine, walking past Lance and patting him on the shoulder as she passed. Lance watched as a bright blue portal opened above the machine and he took a deep breath in before he looked over his shoulder to see the others with large grins on their faces, tears flowing down Pidge's, Allura's and Coran's cheeks while Lotor and Matt were just smiling as they stared at their only hope to end this war.

He felt tears fall down his ocean blue eyes before he grinned happily and waved, "See you on the other side!"

"Till we meet again!" Pidge called back as Lance stepped into the portal, his vision turning black the minute he stepped in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Any feedback is appreciated. I hope you stick around for the next couple of chapters. 
> 
> I’ll get started on the next chapter, I just need to rewrite it so that it’s better. 
> 
> See you next time~


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 'Oh my god... It worked. It actually worked. Well of course it worked, this is Pidge we're talking about. Oh my god, I can change everything!'  
> \---  
> "Who are you?"
> 
> "Uh, the name's Lance."
> 
> 'Quiznak, I feel like crying. Pull yourself together Lance Kogane-McClain.'  
> \---  
> "Maybe you just have to knock?" Lance lifted a fist and knocked gently against the force field, 'Hey there girl. Missed me?'  
> \---  
> 'Princess Allura, here I come,'  
> \---  
> "Well, looks like we're ditching class tomorrow."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here's the new chapter that I promised. I really hope you guys liked it. 
> 
> A lot of the dialogue is similar to the first episode of Season 1 of Voltron so spoilers.  
> \---  
> To be honest, I'm just writing this while I'm waiting for Season 6 but I will still continue it even if this story doesn't line up with the future episode of Season 6. 
> 
> I'm just writing this for my amusement and so that I'm not wallowing in my pity for my Klance-deprived heart.

_He felt tears fall down his own ocean blue eyes before he grinned happily and waved, "See you on the other side!"_

_"Till we meet again!" Pidge called back as Lance stepped into the portal, his vision turning black the minute he stepped in._

\----

Lance turned over and let out a loud groan of pain before he forced his eyes open, immediately shutting them from the bright light that evaded his eyes. He slowly sat up, letting his eyes flutter open before looking around the room, barely processing the objects until his eyes landed on the bag that was resting at the foot of his bed and just like a trigger, memories started flooding in his mind at neck breaking speed causing him to clutch at his head from the pain that accompanied the memories.

Once the assault started to die down, he retracted his hands from his head and once again, let his eyes sweep over the room. Tears started to swim in his blue eyes when he saw that he was back in his old Garrison dorm room,  _'Oh my god... It worked. It actually worked. Well of course it worked, this is Pidge we're talking about._ _Oh my god,_ _I can change everything!'_

He immediately looked at the time and realized that it was almost lights out which meant he had to get Hunk and go find Pidge before they leave Earth for who knows long long. He wiped at his eyes before he hardened his resolve as he quickly got dressed, mumbling under his breath to motivate himself, "You can do this. Pidge, Matt, Allura, Lotor, and Coran put all their trust in you. You have to do everything according to plan. Do  **not**  let their sacrifice be in vain."

He looked around his room before reaching over for the bag that he brought back with him from the future and swung it over his shoulder, making sure it was secure before he dashed out of his room. He went over to Hunk's dorm room before banging loudly on the door, "Hunk! Buddy! Open the door."

 _'Okay. Do not freak when you see Hunk. Do not freak. I repeat. Do. Not. Freak!'_ Lance tapped his foot against the floor impatiently and nervously before he tensed up when the door to Hunk's dorm slid open to reveal a very sleepy looking Hunk. Hunk rubbed at his eyes before speaking up between a yawn, "Lance? What in the world are you doing out here? It's almost lights out."

"Well not for us. Come on buddy. I have a plan," Hunk looked confused but shrugged nonetheless. Lance was doing everything in his power to not tackle the big lug of a man into a tight hug after not seeing him for almost a year after he died and he motioned for Hunk to follow, "Okay. Follow me and act natural."

Lance turned on his heel before heading down the corridor, looking left and right slightly for anyone that could jeopardize his mission by stopping them. He stopped at a corner, sticking to the wall when he heard Commander Iverson's booming voice, "Lights out in five! Everyone back to their dorms, now!"

"We shouldn't be doing whatever you're planning," Hunk spoke as they peeked out the corner into the corridor before Lance waved his hand in dismissal, adjusting the bag on his back as he tried to fit back into his teenage self, "You heard Commander Iverson. We need to bond as a team. We're going to grab Pidge, hit the town, loosen up, meet some nice girls, and then--"

"Okay, okay. I just, I'm just saying this right here, right now on the record, is a bad idea," Hunk spoke softly as Lance rolled his eyes with a small smile dancing on his face before he started dashing down the corridor in the direction of Pidge's dorm, "You know for someone in a space exploration program, you don't have that much of a sense of adventure."

 _'Well, he better get used to it now because we're on the way to the adventure of our lives,'_  Lance stuck himself to the wall when he saw that the lounge of the instructors still had light coming from the inside. Hunk groaned as he looked around the abandoned corridor, following closely behind Lance, "All your little adventures end up with  **me**  in the Principal's office."

Lance shifted his bag so that it was hanging on his front before he started to crawl, just out of sight from the instructors in the room as he motioned for Hunk to follow who only sighed in defeat. Lance was about to step around the corridor when he heard a couple of distant footsteps and he motioned frantically to Hunk to hide. Lance looked around the corridor before spotting a blue recycling bin, which he instantly jumped into and he heard Hunk struggle to fit inside the other recycling bin that was beside the one he was in.

Once the footsteps receded, he opened the slot of the bin to look around before he jumped out of the bin. He turned back to look at Hunk who was struggling to get out of the yellow bin he forced his bulky figure into before the big man fell to the ground, popping out of the bin before he got up and announced softly, "I'm fine. No need to worry."

Lance rolled his eyes fondly as he stuck his hands into his pockets and started walking towards Pidge's room only for the door to slide open. Lance took hold of Hunk's arm and dragged him out of sight and peeked out to see Pidge with a backpack as she ran down the corridor to where he knew she was heading to the roof. Lance smirked before he asked softly, making sure to lace his voice with curiosity and suspicion to not tip Hunk off, "Where is he going?"

Lance motioned for Hunk to follow and they followed after Pidge up to the roof. Lance smirked when he saw Pidge seated down on the ground near the edge of the roof with headphones over her ears and her eyes screwed shut. He crept up behind her, kneeling to her level before taking hold of her headphones and lifting them up slightly as he leaned in and breathed into her ear softly, "Come here often?"

Pidge muffled a squeal of surprise, her face turning a bright red before she turned to face Lance who looked at the disguised girl with a raised eyebrow. Pidge pursed her lips, the blush on her face receding as she clutched at her pants, "Oh, Lance. Uh, no, I'm just... looking at stars. They're really pretty."

"Uh huh. So where'd you get all this stuff? It doesn't look like Garrison tech to me," Lance asked as he looked at the technology that was scattered in front of Pidge. He raised an eyebrow as he looked over the tech,  _'Well, this isn't as impressive as the other things she created when we were out in space.'_

Pidge smirked as she looked up at Lance, failing to see Hunk inching his way to her gadgets, "I built it."

"You built all this?" Hunk asked in astonishment as he inched a finger to touch the computer when Pidge turned around and smacked his hand away in which he protested to, "Ey. Stop it. With this thing, I can scan all the way to the edge of the solar system."

"Hmm. All the way to Kerberos?" Lance asked as he placed his chin on his open palm, staring down at the girl. Pidge looked at him before she deflated as Lance tried to soothe her as much as possible, "Look. I'm not going to pry but you always go ballistic anytime the instructors bring it up. I'm just worried about you."

Hunk was touching the small satellite that was part of the equipment when Pidge growled out, "Second warning Hunk!"

Hunk pouted and Lance sat down beside Pidge, placing a hand on her shoulder as he cooed softly, "I know whatever you're hiding must be big but we need to bond as a team and that means we can't have secrets between us. We're here for you."

 _'Wow. I'm such a hypocrite. No secrets my ass,'_  Lance tossed out of thoughts as Pidge sighed, turning to face Lance as she spoke, "Fine. The world as you know it is about to change. The Kerberos mission wasn't lost because of some malfunction or crew mistake."

 _'Don't I already know that?'_  Lance chuckled to himself as he raised an eyebrow in Hunk's direction who was yet again, slowly inching his way towards Pidge's things. Pidge turned away from Lance and faced Hunk as she yelled, "Stop touching my stuff!"

Lance watched in amusement as Hunk flopped on the ground with a pout plastered on his face before he turned his attention back to Pidge who started speaking once she scolded Hunk, "So, I've been scanning the systems and picking up alien radio chatter."

"Woah. What? Aliens?" Hunk asked as he shot up from his place on the ground to stare at Pidge in wonder. Lance muffled a chuckle before he asked, shifting his bag off his back and onto his lap, "So what have you been picking up on?"

"Wait. You believe me?" Pidge blinked in surprise before Lance shrugged and said, "What's there not to believe? So going to indulge us in what you've been picking up on?"

"Oh, uh, right. Sorry. Just surprised you - of all people - believe what I'm saying," Pidge said softly in disbelief before she shook herself and reached over to pick up a small notepad, "They keep repeating one word every time I listen to them."

"Voltron. And tonight, it's going crazier than I've  ** _ever_**  heard it," the light brown haired girl held up the notepad and Lance could see the drawing of a robot as he asked even though he knew what was about to happen, "How crazy?"

Before Pidge could answer, the alarms in the Garrison started to blare loudly and one of the instructor's voice boomed around the campus, "Attention students! This is not a drill. We are on lock down. Repeat! All students are to remain in barracks until further notice."

"What's going on?" Hunk asked in fear as he stood up, followed by Lance who swung his bag over his shoulder in an instant. Hunk looked up at the sky before pointing out and exclaiming, "Is that a meteor? A very... very big meteor."

Lance looked up at the sky and narrowed his eyes as Pidge used her binoculars to get a closer look, "It's a ship."

"It's not one of ours," Lance spoke as he took hold of Pidge's binoculars, looking through it as she hung weakly onto it as she announced in amazement, "No, it's one of theirs."

"So wait. There really are aliens out there?" Hunk asked with shock in his eyes as they watched the ship crashing down. Pidge started to pack her equipment as quickly as she could before she exclaimed, just as soon as she stood up and the mountain bikers of the Garrison left the compound, "We gotta see that ship."

"Hunk, come on," Lance called as he followed after Pidge. Lance took a deep breath in as they ran down and to one of the bikes as Lance jumped on and called to them, "Jump in. We will never catch up to them at our running speed."

Pidge and Hunk looked hesitant but jumped in as Lance started the bike up and drove at high speeds in the direction of the crashed ship where he knew Shiro was in. In about fifteen minutes, they reached the area and jumped off before climbing up at a steep cliff where Pidge immediately got her equipment out and started setting it up.

Lance took hold of the binoculars and zoomed in on the ship and acted as best as he could, "Woah. What the heck is that thing? Okay, that was stupid of me to ask. That's an alien ship but we'll never get past those guards to get a look."

Lance lowered the binoculars as he sat up. Hunk started to complain weakly and was about to head back down the cliff to the bike when Pidge halted him, "Wait. I hacked into one of the cameras in there and got its feed. Look."

Hunk and Lance leaned down to see the computer screen better and saw Shiro strapped on a table as he trashed in place, "Hey. What are you doing?"

"Calm down Shiro. We just need to keep you quarantined until we run some tests on you," one of the masked workers spoke but was drowned out by Shiro's frantic and panicked voice, "You have to listen to me! They destroyed worlds! Ugh! Aliens are coming! Argh!"

Lance clenched his jaw as he watched the tortured and haunted soul of his leader struggle before Pidge spoke up worriedly, "That's Takashi Shirogane, the pilot of the Kerberos mission...but where's the rest of the crew?"

"Do you know how long you've been gone?" Another worker asked Shiro who only replied in the same frantic voice as he trashed against the bindings holding him back, "I don't know. Months? Years! Look. There's no time! Aliens are coming for a weapon. They're probably on their way. They'll destroy us. We need to find Voltron!"

"Voltron!" Pidge exclaimed as Lance clenched his fist until his knuckles turned white, his eyes turning dark as they focused on what was happening on the screen, "Sir, look at this. It appears that his arm was replaced with a cyborg prosthetic."

"Put him to sleep until we know what that thing can do," the other worker - who Lance deemed was the leader of the group - demanded as Shiro started panicking. Pidge growled before she spoke, "They didn't even ask about the rest of the crew. They won't let him speak!"

"We have to get him out of there!" Pidge turned her head to face Lance, her eyes wide and pleading to the older male. Lance frowned before he narrowed his eyes, letting a smirk appear on his lips as he stood up and dug into his bag, "Okay. Let's do this."

 _'Sorry baby but I'm saving Shiro this time,'_ Lance took hold of Keith's bayard from inside his bag and willed it to transform into his blaster. He pulled it out and held it proudly in his hands, letting the light from the computer screen glint softly off the red blaster. Pidge looked at the blaster with wide eyes full of wonder before she asked, "Where in the world did you get that?"

"That's a secret that I can not indulge," Lance smirked before he took a deep breath in and aimed the blaster just a couple of miles away from the camp before shooting out a couple of red blasts. The blasts hit the ground where he was certain Keith's bombs were located the last time and the direct contact caused the bombs to explode prematurely which drew the attention of the workers who all hurried to their mountain bikes. Pidge grinned before packing her equipment and cheered, "Great job Lance! Was that a grenade blaster?"

"Nope. Just a regular blaster. There were bombs located in that area. I just shot over there to set them off prematurely," Lance stated as he stuffed the blaster back into his bag where it detransformed back in Keith's bayard, "Let's go while they're still distracted by the explosions."

The Garrison cars all headed towards the explosions as Lance, Pidge and Hunk slid down the cliff and towards the area where Shiro was located. Lance sweat dropped when he recalled that it was supposed to be Keith who beat them to Shiro,  _'I'm really sorry babe but I can't really say no to Pidge when she gives me those eyes and I can't allow Shiro to suffer any longer in the clutches of these assholes.'_

Lance dug into his bag before taking hold of the handkerchiefs he brought back with him and shoved them into Hunk and Pidge's hands, "Cover your faces. We have to make sure that they don't recognize us or they might tattle on us."

They immediately wrapped the cloth around the lower part of their faces, making sure that it was secure and wouldn't fall. Lance had blue, Hunk had yellow, and Pidge had green which corresponded with their lions. Lance nodded before zipping his bag up and swinging it over his back. He pushed the button that would open the door to where Shiro was held in. The workers all turned to the entrance and once they took notice that it wasn't anyone that they worked with, they all rushed to apprehend them.

Lance heard Pidge and Hunk let out squeaks of fear from behind him. He took a deep breath in as he narrowed his blue eyes, lifting his hands and clenching them into fists before he threw a right hook at one of the workers before kicking them hard on their stomach that sent them flying back into one of the metal tables that held some equipment. Another worker tried to kick Lance who only moved back and took hold of said leg before letting out a battle cry as he threw the person over Shiro's table and into the wall hard, knocking them out. The last worker turned to throw a punch at Lance who took hold of the fist and kicked his leg high, his foot making contact with the worker's masked face which pushed them back where their lower back hit roughly against the table that Shiro was strapped to before slumping to the ground, unconscious. Lance exhaled deeply, feeling the adrenaline rushing through his veins before he relaxed his stance. He turned to look at Pidge and Hunk who were staring at him in shock and awe.

"Something wrong?" Lance huffed out, a small bead of sweat dripping down his chin as Hunk squealed, "What the hell man?! That was so cool! How did you even learn to fight like that?"

"Someone really special taught me," Lance thought back to his husband with a fond look gracing his face before he shook himself out of his daydreams and rushed over to Shiro's side. He pulled his mask down and reached out to tilt Shiro's face, blue eyes holding worry before he dug into his bag and pulled out Keith's blade. He sliced through the restraints that held Shiro down before stuffing the blade back in his bag and zipping up the bag. He swung his bag over his shoulder before he wrapped one of Shiro's arm around his shoulders and heaved him off the table. He looked up when he heard a familiar voice that caused his heart to speed up, "Who are you?"

Lance's ocean blue eyes made contact with very familiar grey-violet eyes and Lance had to swallow down roughly before he choked out, his emotions getting the better of him, "Uh, the name's Lance."

 _'Quiznak, I feel like crying. Pull yourself together Lance Kogane-McClain,'_  Lance thought as he looked at Keith with a raised eyebrow. Keith's eyes shifted away from Lance to Shiro's unconscious form before his eyes widened and he asked softly as he took a step forward, "Is that Shiro?"

Lance nodded, the lump in his throat restricting any sound that wanted to escape as Keith immediately appeared at Shiro's other side and wrapped the unconscious man's other arm around his shoulder as Lance spoke up, his eyes looking straight at Pidge and Hunk who looked awkward and were lacking their masks, "We have to get out of here. I don't know how long those explosions will distract them."

They started leaving and they headed towards Keith's hover bike as Hunk used Pidge's binoculars and announced fearfully, "Oh no. They're coming back and they do  ** _not_**  look happy at all."

They rushed on board causing the motorcycle to tilt backwards as Pidge exclaimed in worry as she looked at the vehicle, "Is this thing going to be big enough for all of us?!"

"No," Keith growled shortly and they all looked up to see a couple of the Garrison cars rushing towards them. Keith turned the engine on and turned the bike around and drove off. Pidge yelled as she held onto Shiro's arms to keep him on board, "Why am I holding this guy?!"

"Just do it Pidge," Lance shot a look at Pidge as Hunk exclaimed in surprise, "Will you look at that? We did all fit."

Lance looked back and he frowned when he realized that they were gaining on them. Lance dug into his bag before pulling out Keith's bayard that instantly took form as his blaster before he fully took it out and he called over his shoulder as he focused on the Garrison cars, "Keep this thing as steady as you possibly can Keith!"

"Huh? What, why?" Keith called back but Lance didn't answer as he started to shoot at the tires of the cars that were chasing after them. Lance let a grin appear on his face when the blasts made perfect contact causing the tires of the cars to pop and the cars skidded to a stop to prevent them from turning over. Lance kept his blaster steady and at the ready just in case one of the cars appeared once again to chase them as Keith drove them to his shack located in the middle of nowhere. Lance let out a sigh of relief as he stuffed his blaster back into his bag when he was sure that no one would be able to follow after them and Keith called back, "Nice blaster you got there."

Lance smirked as they came to a halt beside the shack. Lance climbed off before taking Shiro out of Pidge's arms and into his own bridal style, adjusting Shiro's head so that his leader's head was resting against his collar bone. He started walking to the shack, barely noticing Pidge and Hunk following behind him when Keith appeared beside him offering help, "Need help?"

"Nah. I'm good, man," Lance spoke softly to not wake up Shiro as he shifted Shiro yet again as Keith opened the door to the house for Lance to slip in. He walked in and placed Shiro on the battered looking couch as gently as he could. Shiro started to stir just as Lance let him go and the leader of Voltron sat up, looking around the place and Lance spoke softly, "Takashi Shirogane, correct?"

"Who are you? Where am I?" Shiro asked, steadying himself as he clutched at his head with his prosthetic arm. Lance was kneeling in front of Shiro and spoke as softly to not rattle the already confused pilot, "I'm Lance, Lance K--McClain. I'm a cadet at the Garrison, a fighter pilot. We rescued you from them. We're in Keith M--Kogane's shack. You know Keith?"

Shiro didn't seem to process the question as he looked around the room and he spoke softly as he eyed the other occupants of the room, "Who?"

"Those two are Pidge Gunderson and Hunk Garrett. I'm Lance McClain," Lance introduced the others and himself again as Lance pointed to Keith, "That's Keith Kogane. You should know him... right?"

Shiro nodded and he looked straight at Lance with a questioning look, "How did you know to rescue me?"

"Pidge was the one who suspected something," Lance spoke, taking charge to inform the future leader of Voltron, "You've been gone for one year ever since the Kerberos mission. Do you remember your crew members? Commander Samuel Holt and Matthew Holt?"

Lance could see Pidge tense up from the corner of his eye from the mention of her father and brother and Shiro slowly nodded before Lance asked, "Do you know where they are?"

"I... No. Everything is such a blur. My mind feels scrambled," Shiro stated softly and Lance sighed before he stood up, "You said something about Voltron and something about aliens. Is there something we need to do? Anything we can do to help?"

"About that," Lance turned his head to look at his husband who stood by the covered cork board as the shorter male spoke to Shiro, "There's something I want to show you Shiro."

Keith took hold of the cloth and pulled it off to reveal a series of images with different colored yarns connecting some of the pictures to the others. Shiro looked at the board in shock before asking, "What have you been working on?"

Lance smirked before forcing the smirk down to a neutral expression as he stared at the board as Keith spoke up, "I can't really explain it. After I got kicked out of the Garrison, I was kind of... lost and found myself drawn to this place. It's like something... some energy was telling me to search."

"For what?" Shiro asked as he stood up from his place on the couch to approach Keith. Keith eyed Shiro approaching him before the taller male stopped opposite of the shorter one, "Well, I didn't really know at that time actually."

Keith turned away from Shiro and reached out to the cork board as he spoke, placing his fingers lightly against the map that was plastered smack in the middle of the board, "Until I stumbled across this area. It's an out cropping of giant boulders with caves covered in these ancient markings. Each tells a slightly different story about a blue lion but they all share clues leading to some event, some arrival happening last night. Then you showed up."

Keith turned back to Shiro, communicating with the other through their eyes and Lance stifled the growl of jealousy that was creeping its way up his throat at seeing the two interact. Shiro turned away from Keith and faced Lance, Pidge and Hunk, "I should thank you all for getting me out."

Shiro started to approach Lance and held out his prosthetic arm for him to take, "Lance, right?"

Lance uncrossed his arms and reached to shake the other man's hand, pushing the jealousy back as he forced a smile on his face,  _'Pull yourself together man. Don't do something stupid Lance. Keith isn't yours yet and you have to remember that they consider each other_ _brothers_ _.'_

Lance released Shiro's hand as Shiro outstretched it towards Pidge as she introduced herself once again, taking hold of Shiro's hand, "The nervous guy's Hunk. I'm Pidge. So, did anyone else from your crew make it out?"

Shiro frowned as he dropped his hand from Pidge's and he spoke softly, "I'm not sure. I remember the mission and being captured. After that, it's just bits and pieces."

"Yea. Sorry to interrupt whatever this is but back to the aliens. Where are they now? Are they coming? Are they coming for all of us? Like where are they at this exact moment?" Hunk's questions spilled over, his breathing growing shallow as Shiro sighed, "I can't really put it together. I remember the word Voltron. It's some kind of weapon they're looking for but I don't really know why. Whatever it is, I think we need to find it before they do."

"Okay. Well last night I was rummaging through Pidge's stuff and I found this picture," Hunk pulled out a picture from Pidge's bag and held it up to reveal Pidge when she had long hair with Matt at her side, "Look, it's his girlfriend. Hehehe."

Pidge reached over and snatched the picture out of Hunk's fingers as she growled, "Hey, give me that. What were you doing in my stuff?"

Lance brought a hand to stifle a chuckle but he wasn't quick enough and a small snort left his lips drawing the attention of the others to him and Pidge asked with a huff and a glare, "What are you laughing at?"

"Nothing. Sorry," Lance coughed awkwardly, his eyes darting from Pidge to the picture. Pidge frowned before Hunk spoke up again, "Anyway, I was looking for a candy bar but then I started reading his diary."

Hunk lifted a leather bound notebook and Pidge screeched as she snatched the notebook out of his grip, " **WHAT?!!** "

"And I noticed the repeating series of numbers the aliens are looking for looks a lot like a fraunhofer line," Hunk spoke as he ignored Pidge's screech and Keith asked in confusion, "A frown.. who?"

"It's a number describing the emission spectrum of an element, only this element doesn't seem to exist on Earth. I thought that it might be this Voltron and I think I can build a machine to look for it kind of like a Voltron tracker," Hunk rushed, not leaving space for him to breathe and Lance smirked as he crossed his arms over his chest, "Hunk, you big genius."

"It's pretty fascinating really. The wavelength looks something like this," Hunk took out a piece of paper from his back pocket and unfolded it to show a line chart. Keith snatched the paper out of Hunk's hands as he muttered, "Give me that."

He held it up towards the picture of the canyon and they all took notice of the way that the wavelength seemed to match up with the shape of the canyon. Keith spoke up as he lowered the paper, "We have to get there."

\----

"Okay. I admit it. This is getting super freaky," Lance spoke up once they arrived at the scene and Hunk interrupted as he looked down at the device in his hands that was beeping softly, "I'm getting a reading. Be quiet."

Hunk pushed forward and started looking around frantically before he started walking forward, dragging Pidge due to her holding the small satellite in her hand with the others following closely behind them. Lance just strolled beside Keith, listening to the sound of metal bumping into each other from the rings that were hanging loosely around his neck and was hidden under his shirt. Keith glanced at Lance from the corner of his eye as he asked nonchalantly, "So, what's the deal with the bag?"

Lance turned his head to face Keith with a raised eyebrow before he shrugged, "Just some stuff. I planned to ditch the Garrison the night Shiro crash landed and I was bringing Hunk and Pidge along because Commander Iverson was being an absolute douche about our team work in the simulator. Not like it's any of your business, dropout."

Keith's lips contorted into a scowl at the last statement but didn't retort back as Lance turned his head away from Keith so that the half-Galran male couldn't see the guilt that was evident in his blue eyes,  _'Don't mess this up. You have to act like an ass to your husband. Everything has to go exactly as it once did or else something bad could actually happen and I won't have any idea what to do. Do not mess this up. You can't let your true feelings get in the way of you saving everyone. You can't let your feelings get the better of you Lance.'_

Lance heard the furious beeping of Hunk's device and lifted his head to see Hunk and Pidge run off ahead of them. They rushed up as well and Lance could feel the giddiness bubbling in his chest that came with knowing that he will finally be able to see his girl again. He heard the soft but muffled growling of Blue as she called out to her paladin. They climbed down the cliff being careful not to accidentally hurt themselves before they ran up to the cave, walking in as Hunk and Pidge stared at the drawings that were carved into the cave walls in amazement. Shiro looked around, curiosity laced in his voice as he asked, "What are these?"

"These are the lion carvings I was telling you about," Keith spoke and Lance walked up to one of the carvings, smiling at one of them as Keith continued, "They're everywhere around here."

Lance shifted his bag to hang at his front before he placed his hand against the carving of the lion and he heard Blue's muffled purring calling her paladin as he replied back softly,  _'I'm here girl.'_

In an instant, the carving that he was touching lit up a bright blue color and he slowly retracted his hand from the wall with his eyes sparkling as he muttered, "Woah..."

"They've never done that before," Keith muttered softly before Lance looked down and saw the ground they were standing on light up in the same blue the carvings on the wall were before the ground crumbled beneath them, sending them down a water tunnel. Lance just eased into the ride, listening in amusement at the others' screams of terror as he landed in the pool of water in a crouch. He twitched when Hunk and Pidge fell into the water causing a down pour over his head and he shook the water out of his hair and face as he opened his ocean blue eyes to see Blue in front of him in her particle barrier, his voice echoing in the dark cave fondly, "They are everywhere."

Lance stepped out of the water, allowing the water to drip down his clothes and face as he looked up at the blue lion that was his first ever lion and who he held the strongest bond with. The others followed suit and Pidge asked softly as she stared up at the towering mechanical cat, "Is this it? Is this the Voltron?"

"It must be," Shiro spoke up and Keith tilted his head to the side, "This is what's been causing all this crazy energy out here."

Keith started to approach the lion and the others followed after him as he called out, "Looks like there's a force field around it."

"You don't say dumb ass," Lance muttered under his breath fondly as he stared at the back of his husband's head before he trailed his eyes up to the lion and speaking to her,  _'Hey girl. It's me. Do you remember me?'_

Blue purred in his mind, her purr sounding confused and he felt his heart pounding in his chest as Keith approached the barrier. He started pushing his fingers against the barrier softly and mumbled under his breath, "Wonder how we can get through this?"

"Maybe you just have to knock?" A smile graced the Cuban's face at his inside joke as he reached Blue's barrier. Lance lifted a fist and knocked gently against the force field. He almost cried out in relief when she let it down for him, her yellow eyes flashing brightly as she invaded each of their minds as she showed them what Voltron was.

 _'Hey there girl. Missed me?'_  Lance sent his thoughts towards Blue who purred loudly in his mind. He opened his mind to Blue, feeling her shift through his memories of the future as he looked over his shoulder and asked to the others, "Did everyone just see that?"

"Voltron's a robot! Voltron's a huge, huge awesome robot!" Hunk exclaimed dramatically and Pidge gasped, "And this thing is just one part of it! I wonder where the rest of them are."

"This is what they're looking for," Shiro looked up at the blue lion in astonishment and Keith breathed out, "Incredible."

Blue started to lower her head once she was done shifting through Lance's memories causing Hunk and Pidge to panic and she slowly opened her mouth to allow Lance to walk in, purring loudly for her paladin. Lance let a goofy grin appear on his lips before he ran into her cockpit. He looked around before taking a seat on his chair, placing his semi-wet bag on his lap before Blue pushed the chair forward where he could reach the controls, the holo-screen activating as the other members of his team surrounded him, looking at the cockpit in wonder.

Lance took a deep breath in and was about to take hold of her controls when Hunk spoke up, trying to state a fact, "Okay guys. I just feel the need to point it out right now so that we're, you know, all aware. We are inside some futuristic alien cat head right now."

Lance rolled his eyes at his best friend before he let his fingers hover over the holo-pad, pushing on the buttons to let Blue stand on all fours before she let out a loud and resonating roar that shook him to his core. Lance chuckled before he took hold of her controls and said, "Alright. Got it. Now let's get out of here, shall we?"

He pulled the controls towards him as he pushed down on the pedal, making Blue jump up as he activated her thrusters and breaking through the crust of the ground and into the air where he made her spin around wildly as he cheered. Blue purred loudly, her paladin's energy and excitement mixing in with hers as he shifted her gears and allowed her to dive downwards to the ground as Keith screamed, "You are the worst pilot  **EVER**!"

 _'Okay. That stung. Harsh babe,'_  Lance winced slightly at the jab at his ego before he shifted Blue's controls yet again so that she landed heavily on the ground on all fours. He pushed her gears forward, allowing her to make a running start across the large expanse of land. Lance grinned as he looked back to his teammates who looked terrified and sick - the latter being Hunk mostly - as he exclaimed happily, "Isn't this fun?!"

"Make it stop!" Hunk had tears prickling in his eyes as he tried to steady himself and Lance chuckled, "Sorry buddy. But there's some place this lion wants to be."

"Where are you taking us?" Keith growled and Lance tossed him a look and repeated, "I don't know okay? The lion just wants to go somewhere and I plan on delivering."

 _'Princess Allura, here I come,'_  Lance thought as he shifted the controls yet again to allow Blue to fly into the air and he spoke up when Blue growled softly in his mind, "Blue says there's an alien ship about to approach Earth. I think we should stop it."

"What did it say exactly?" Pidge growled as she clung to the chair for life and Lance turned to look at Pidge with a sigh, "First of, the lion is a she, not an it. Second of all, it's not like she's saying words okay? It's more likely purring and growling almost like an actual cat. She's putting ideas in my head and I trust her judgement."

Lance continued to stare at Pidge in exasperation as Hunk said in a jumble of words, "Well, if this thing's like the weapon they're coming for. Why don't we just, I don't know, give it to them? Maybe they'll leave us alone? Sorry lion. It's nothing personal."

Hunk looked around the cockpit of the lion and Lance could feel a major headache approaching as he mused to himself,  _'This sucks ass. I forgot that this isn't the team that I lived with, that I practically grew up with. Why did I agree to this again? Oh yea, because I'm a dumb ass that has a weak spot for Pidge and I can't say no to her or Empress Allura.'_

"You don't understand. These monsters spread like a plague throughout the galaxy, destroying everything in their path. There's no bargaining with them. They won't stop until everything is dead," Shiro spoke with a deadpan voice and expression and Hunk looked put out as all eyes went to him. He sighed before he mumbled weakly, "Never mind then."

Blue flew out of the atmosphere and in no time at all, a Galra ship appeared in front of Blue. Lance growled, tensing up with his knuckles tightening around his lion's controls as he shifted her to fly out of the way. Shiro looked terrified as he mumbled softly, "They found me..."

The Galra ship started shooting at Blue and Pidge screeched at Lance, "Get us out of here!"

"Got it. Hang on guys!" Lance quickly pulled on Blue's controls and pushed hard on her pedals, forcing her to fly upward as she dodged all the lasers that was aimed in their direction before he adjusted her controls again to fly close to the ship while narrowly dodging the lasers. He growled as he pushed the controls forward roughly, allowing Blue to open her mouth to use her mouth cannon, dragging the beam across the ship causing explosions to light up where the ray made contact. Lance smirked as he spoke, "Okay. Let's try this. Come on girl!"

Lance leaned back and pulled the controls towards him, avoiding the lasers as he got close to the ship letting Blue latch her claws on the side of the ship and dragged her metallic claws across the surface of the ship before she pushed off the ship. Lance stated as he allowed Blue to fly away from the ship and away from Earth, "Okay. Let's get these guys away from our planet."

Lance smirked when the ship followed after them, leaving Earth as Hunk and Pidge protested loudly. Keith asked over Hunk's loud protests, "Where are we?"

"At the edge of the solar system. Look, that's Kerberos," Shiro pointed out at the large moon that they were flying past by and Pidge exclaimed in shock, "It takes months for our ships to get out this far. We got here in  **five**  seconds!"

Lance's eyes narrowed when he saw a wormhole open and Hunk asked, "What is that?"

"Blue says it's a wormhole and the only way to get away from this ship following us is through it. Shiro, you're the senior officer here. What should we do?" Lance asked, even though he already knew the answer. Shiro frowned before saying, "Wherever that thing leads us, I'm sure it's far away from that ship so I say we go through it. We're a team now though so we should decide together."

They all seemed to communicate through one glance before Pidge placed a hand on Lance's shoulder before he sighed and he joked slightly, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips, "Well, looks like we're ditching class tomorrow."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really enjoyed typing this out and I really hope you enjoyed reading it. This part one out of three parts so sorry for leaving you guys on a cliff hanger. If you have something that you would like to point out to me, please feel free to do so, I enjoy hearing what my readers think and what they expect.
> 
> Feel free to leave kudos, comments or bookmark this story because it really motivates me to see people enjoy it.
> 
> Stay tuned for the next chapter that I'm working on. :)


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Are these guys... dead?"
> 
> "I'm Lance, Lance K--McClain. And who might you be?"
> 
> "I am Princess Allura of Planet Altea."  
> \---  
> "Lance? What are you-- LANCE! THIS IS NOT THE PLAN! WHEN I SAID DISTRACTION, I DIDN'T MEAN US! LANCE!"
> 
> "Just shut up and trust me!"  
> \---  
> 'Red, remember me? Lancey-Lance? Remember me sweetheart? I'm the husband of your future paladin. We're going to come rescue you okay boy?'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay before you get reading, I would like to clear some things up. So these questions came up from one of my readers in the comments and I just want to answer it so that no one else will ask:
> 
> 1) Why is it that no one (Pidge and Hunk) questioned that Lance has a blaster AND a knife in his bag?  
> The answer would be that Pidge and Hunk weren't in their right mind when Lance pulled out a fucking blaster from his bag like he was expecting some kind of attack. Pidge was too focused on getting Shiro out that she didn't even question Lance about how he has a blaster. Hunk, on the other hand, was focused on not getting caught that it probably slipped his mind and he didn't question it. (Maybe in the future it will come up about the bayard but for now, they are not questioning it because right now they are trying to get out whatever they got themselves into alive)  
> About the knife on the other hand, I know a lot of people who carry around pocket knives or cutters with them wherever they go. (I'm actually looking at my sister who will bring around sharp objects - most preferably cutters - if she can get away with it)
> 
> 2) Where is Past/Younger Lance?  
> When Older Lance went through the portal, he woke up in his bed at the Garrison. I didn't explain what happened while he was asleep because it would be boring but to narrow it down, Older Lance met with Younger Lance and they talked stuff out. Younger Lance was horrified about what happened in the future and stuff and Older Lance explained that they would need to fuse to be able to be in the same body if they don't become one, their personalities would clash and he could go insane from having a split personality. Older Lance explained that if they fuse as one, both of them won't technically die but will become one with Older Lance obviously taking over due to his experience. Younger Lance immediately agreed to fuse and that's what happened. Another reason why he kind of woke up in pain and had that assault of memories. (If any of you watched Naruto Shippuden, I was trying to make it like when Naruto met Dark!Naruto. But unlike that, Younger Lance became part of Older Lance.)
> 
> 3) About the device that Pidge gave Lance to allow him to restore people's memories, why can't he just use it on his teammates already?  
> If you think about it, Lance doesn't seem like the type to actually do that. He wouldn't risk his teammates safety because he knows what they will try to do the minute they get their memories back. Lance would rather see his friends change by their experiences rather than some device that gives them memories. Lance is the type who would want them to experience everything that makes them who he knows in the future. Another reason would be that unlike Lance whose Older self came back, the others will just have the memories and not the experiences, feelings and emotions that accompany the memory.
> 
> If that doesn't make sense then let me explain it a bit better:  
> Older Lance already experienced torture in the future from the Galra when he got captured so when he went back to the past, he already knows the feelings when he went through the interrogation that the Galra have.  
> Older Hunk also went through the torture. If Older Lance gave Hunk his memories and Hunk gets captured, he has the memories of his future self getting tortured. But the device that Pidge gave Lance only allows them to get their memories back, it doesn't show them what they felt during that time, so if Hunk were to get captured and interrogated, nothing will prepare him for how painful the torture will be.
> 
> (Does that make sense? If it doesn't, please ask questions so I can clear it up. I explained it more in the chapter so maybe it will help?)
> 
>  
> 
> Okay, I'm done ranting! Enjoy this next chapter!

_They all seemed to communicate through one glance before Pidge placed a hand on Lance's shoulder before he sighed and he joked slightly, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips, "Well, looks like we're ditching class tomorrow."_

\----

Lance pushed Blue's controls forward causing Blue to activate her thrusters which gave her a boost ahead and forced them through the wormhole. Lance's face contorted into discomfort when the force of the wormhole weighed heavily down on his body, keeping him locked down on the chair as they were forced out of the wormhole.

Lance shifted slightly in his chair to get back into a comfortable position as he heard Keith awe, "That was--"

Before Keith could even finish his statement of awe, Hunk heaved heavily as he turned away from them and started vomiting up his breakfast which he apologized furiously to the others in between his heaving. Lance grimaced slightly as Pidge adjusted her glasses with a shrug, "I'm actually surprised it took him this long to empty his stomach."

"I don't recognize any of these constellations. We must be a long, LONG way from home," Shiro said as he looked at the black abyss they were floating in with a frown as Lance spoke up, "Blue wants us to go to this planet. I think she's going home."

 _'You and me both Blue. You and me both,'_ Lance activated Blue's thrusters and made her head straight to Planet Arus in a nose dive. They broke through the atmosphere head first and Lance let out a huff when the team all attached themselves to him and his chair to steady themselves, "Guys, personal space, please. Hunk, buddy, your breath is killing me."

"Um, is it just me or is anyone having second thoughts about flying through a mysterious wormhole? Why are we listening to a robotic lion anyway?" Hunk complained loudly as he pulled away from Lance and Lance resisted the urge to smack the large man over the head as he spoke tiredly, "Got us away from that alien warship, didn't it?"

"I don't know if you noticed but we're **IN** an alien warship," Lance tilted his head to look up at Keith who straightened up so he distanced himself from Lance. Lance let a smirk grace his lips as he raised a teasing eyebrow at his future husband, "Oh. Are you scared?"

"With you at the front? Petrified," Keith shot back at the Cuban who only chuckled to himself as Shiro called them off, "Alright. Knock it off."

All eyes went to Shiro as he spoke, "No one is happy to be in this situation but we're here now. If we want to get through this, we got to do it together."

"So? What are we going to do?" Pidge asked as she looked at Shiro who frowned, his eyebrows furrowed up, "First, we find out where we're heading to. Any idea Lance?"

Lance blinked before he spoke softly, lying to the others, "I'm sorry but Blue isn't specifying what planet we are on but she wants us to head over there."

Lance tilted his head forward to the screen and everyone followed his head movement and Lance spoke softly, his voice holding an unnoticeable tone of fondness, "Blue says that that is the Castle of Lions. Who lives there? I have no idea. She won't tell me."

Blue flew close to the castle, her eyes flashing a bright yellow which caused a trigger on the castle to respond in some way as she flew down, landing heavily on the large courtyard. Shiro blinked before he spoke, his voice guarded, "Keep your guard up."

"Is something the matter?" Pidge asked as she looked up at Shiro who clenched his jaw tightly, "My crew was captured by aliens once. I'm not letting it happen again."

Blue lowered her head and opened her mouth, opening the ramp to allow them to exit her cockpit. Pidge led the group, followed closely by Shiro, Keith, and Hunk with Lance taking the rear. Blue started to shift her weight and Hunk panicked loudly, "I knew that she was going to eat us!"

Blue stood up on all fours and let out a resonating roar which caused the doors of the castle to glow a bright blue color. Hunk hide behind Shiro as the doors of the castle slid open to reveal a large but dark corridor as Hunk spoke, "Oh. The door is open. I guess I was wrong about you. Sorry."

They all started walking in the corridor and everyone got spooked when Hunk called out loudly, his booming voice echoing in the empty place, "Hello?"

 _'I forgot that he did that. That startled me,'_ Lance sweat dropped as Pidge looked around the ballroom and spoke with curiosity and suspicion laced in her tone, "With the size of the lion, I actually expected these steps to be bigger."

The lights suddenly lit up and a robotic sounding female voice called out, "Please hold still for identity scan."

"Who are you? What do you want from us?" Shiro called out as the light that appeared from the ground scanned their figures. Shiro got no reply back and the lights in the hallway leading up to the stairs started to light up, almost like it was gesturing to them to follow. Pidge narrowed her eyes before stating the obvious with a hint of sarcasm, "I guess we're going to have to go that way."

They all started walking, following the lights as they lit up the dark hallway. Hunk was looking around the place as he called out, trying to get a response from anything that was living in the castle. Lance's eyes twitched but he didn't do anything as he tightened his hold on the straps of his backpack, _'Stay calm. Don't lose your cool. You have to act normal. You have to be low-key.'_

In almost no time at all, they reached the healing bay and Keith asked as he looked around the place, "Where are we?"

 _'In the place that you died in my arms,'_ Lance pushed back the tears that wanted to make itself know as Pidge approached the control pad in the middle of the rooms, watching it light up as she muttered, "It's some kind of... control room?"

Lance turned towards the two cryopods that started to ascend from the ground which he knew contained the frozen forms of Allura and Coran and he could feel his heart racing at the sheer thought of having his family almost complete. Hunk asked as he hid behind the pad, "Are these guys... dead?"

Lance watched as the pod in which Allura was resting slowly unfroze and Allura's bright blue eyes snapped open as she reached forward, calling out weakly, "Father!"

Allura started to fall forward as her muscles not cooperated with her brain but Lance rushed forward, catching her in his arms and allowed her to steady on his chest. Allura looked up at Lance and Lance muttered softly, "Hello."

"Who are you?" Allura asked as her eyes narrowed, staring up at Lance before she looked away from him and asked again, "Where am I?"

Lance gripped her forearms and steadied her to her feet as he spoke softly to not trigger anything in the princess, "I'm Lance, Lance K--McClain. And who might you be?"

Allura blinked and Lance could feel the looks of confusion that were burning at his back from Pidge and Hunk who knew him to be an absolute playboy especially when a pretty girl is involved. Allura asked in confusion and wonder, "Your ears."

 _'Oh great. Here it comes,'_ Lance forced back the sigh that wanted to bubble out as Allura spoke with a look of disgust on her face as she pulled at said ears, "They're hideous. What's wrong with them?"

Lance sighed before speaking, ignoring the way his ears were being tugged on, "Can you please tell us why we were brought here instead of berating me about how my ears look like?"

Lance stepped away from Allura when he was certain that she could balance herself, "A giant blue lion brought us here. That's all we know. Do you know why?"

"How do you have the blue lion? What happened to its paladin?" Allura asked, ignoring Lance's question as she shifted her gaze away from Lance to the others who were staring at them in uncertainty. Lance let out a small sigh of relief that was barely heard, _'At least I didn't get pinned down like I did last time. I guess being married takes a toll on you when you can't bring yourself to flirt with anyone except your husband.'_

"What are you all doing here?" Allura asked as Lance moved away slightly so that Allura could get a good look at all of them as she whispered softly, "Unless. How long has it been?"

"We don't know what you're talking about," Shiro said with confusion laced in his tone as he asked, "Why don't you tell us who you are first? Maybe we can help you."

Allura stared at Shiro with a calculating look before she introduced herself, her eyes narrowing slightly, "I am Princess Allura of Planet Altea. I've got to find out where we are and how long we've been asleep."

Allura walked over to the control pad and placed her hands on it causing it to light up and a holo-screen to appear above it. Pidge stared in amazement before she said in awe, "Okay. So that's how that works."

Lance tilted his head when he heard Coran's cryopod open and he turned his head to look at the male Altean. Lance blinked when Coran turned to face him and let out a loud gasp, "Ah! Enemy combatants! Uwah!"

Coran jumped out of the pod and sent a flying kick in Lance's direction. Lance's light blue eyes darkened and - on instinct, mind you - grabbed hold of the Altean's ankle before slamming him against the ground so that the Altean was on his stomach. He pushed his knee against the older man's back and took hold of the latter's hands, bringing them behind his back and pinning his arms in place. Lance realized what he was doing and snapped back to reality, shooting up as he apologized furiously to the man that was groaning in pain, "I am so sorry. I was moving on instinct."

Coran just let out another groan of pain and Lance knelt down and helped him to his feet as he let out another string of apologies, looking the man over, "I apologize. I did not mean to pin you down like that."

"It's alright. I should have expected you to react like that at such a surprise," Coran said weakly as Lance released his hold on the man. The others were staring at them in shock - minus Allura who was busy looking at the screen hovering before her - before Hunk spoke up, blinking out of his surprise, "Seriously. Where did you learn to fight like that? You took out those guys when we went to rescue Shiro in no time and then you pin down this guy so fast I barely saw you move. Where have you been hiding all this?"

"Uhh... I told you. Someone really special taught me," Lance mumbled softly, resisting the urge to wrap his fingers around the cool wedding rings that were hanging around his neck and hidden from the view of the others. All attention was off of him - to the relief of the Cuban - when Allura muttered softly, looking and sounding upset, "It can't be..."

"What is it Princess?" Coran asked as he stared at the back of Allura's head as she spoke up in disbelief and in pain, "We've been asleep for ten thousand years. Planet Altea and all planets in our solar system have been eradicated. Coran, Father is gone. Our entire civilization--"

Lance saw Allura's bright blue eyes darken as she growled out harshly, "Zarkon."

Shiro's eyes widened and he took a sharp intake of breath as he asked mostly to himself, "Zarkon?"

"He was the king of the Galra. A vile creature and enemy to all free people," Allura said in anger, her eyes showing the anger she held in as Shiro recalled, "I remember now. I was his prisoner."

"He's still alive?" Allura asked in shock before she clenched her fist in anger as she looked away from Shiro, "Impossible!"

"I can't really explain it but it's true. He's searching for a super weapon called Voltron," Shiro took charge in explaining and Lance just now realized the responsibilities he has to fix the future that he came from which caused him to sober up. He realized the burden that came with playing from the shadows and making sure that no one caught wind of what he was doing least he hurt the people he cares about by his actions and his secrets. Allura looked at Shiro as she answered, "He's searching for it because he knows it's the only thing that could defeat his reign of terror. And that's exactly why we must find it before he does."

\----

"Princess, you must eat. It's been ten thousand years," Coran tried to ease the princess into eating who only let out a small sigh as she kept her eyes locked on the screen in front of her, "I'm not hungry Coran."

"I haven't eaten anything since breakfast and I'm starving," Hunk complained as he clutched at his stomach like he was in pain. Pidge looked at Hunk with a disbelieving tilt of her eyebrow before scoffing, "Yea. It's a wonder why. You threw up like five times."

Hunk looked at Pidge with a frown before he hummed out, shrugging his shoulders, "Hmm. You have a good point."

Hunk reached for the food goo that was on a plate in front of him and scarfed it down, gagging slightly at the flavor as Shiro spoke, looking around the healing bay in wonder, "I can't believe your civilization created such advanced technology ten thousand years ago Princess. It must have been an incredible place to live in."

"Yes, it was.. but now it's gone," Coran spoke, sounding tired as he looked over to Allura with sadness written on his face, "And we're the last Alteans alive."

Lance frowned as he thought to Haggar and Lotor, knowing fully well that Lotor will embrace his Altean side when he gets engaged to Allura. Allura looked upset at the thought and Coran walked up to her, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. Allura looked up at her guardian before tackling him into a hug and sobbing softly into his shoulder as he hugged her back.

Lance heard soft squeaking and he walked over to Allura's pod where the sound was coming from, kneeling down in front of it before letting a smile grace his lips. He held out his hand for the four mice that were cheering in the pod as he mumbled a soft greeting, "Hey there little guys."

He allowed them to crawl up his arms and they all scampered up. Platt and Plachu headed for his shoulders, each mice taking their place on his shoulders while Chulatt and Chuchule ran up and sat on his head, getting comfortable in his brown hair. Allura turned to look at Lance before smiling, a small flush appearing on her cheeks as she stared at the mice that were resting comfortably on Lance, "Looks like we're not the last after all."

An alarm started blaring out, scaring everyone as Coran turned to the pad and announced in fear, "A Galra battleship has set its tracker to us."

"How did they find us?" Allura asked in fear as well before Shiro asked, "How long until they arrive here?"

"At their speed," Coran started counting on his fingers as he muttered under his breath, "Carry the two. Ugh.. maybe a couple of days?"

 _'Try a couple of hours,'_ Lance grumbled in his head, crossing his arms over his chest as Allura announced, "Good. Let them come. By the time that Galra ship gets here, you five will have reformed Voltron and together we will destroy Zarkon's empire."

Hunk let out a loud burp before he apologized, clasping his hands together, "Sorry. Food goo."

"Princess, there are five of these lions, how are we going to find the rest?" Shiro asked, worried before Allura's eyes narrowed and she motioned for them to follow after her. Lance walked side by side with Keith, his hands stuffed in his pockets as he adjusted the bag that was weighing a bit heavily on his back and didn’t take mind of the mice that were still perched on him, _'I wonder if I should restore my team's memories. Would it benefit us if I just hand over their memories? Wait. If I just hand over their memories, there's no way that they will mature into the people they turned on to be in the future. I need to at least guide them on the path of being who they will be before giving their memories and even then I can't risk handing over their memories in case the Galra capture them and interrogate them. I had enough practice with torture with the Galra that they won't be able to break me for information. Goddammit, I so badly want to get my team back but I need to focus on the task at hand. I won't have the team that I grew up with if I just hand over their memories.'_

"You okay buddy?" Lance was pulled out of his conflicting thoughts when Hunk's voice cut through. He looked over to see Hunk's worried expression before he forced his normal grin on his face, "Yup. Just lovely Hunk. Why?"

"I don't know... You've been acting weird ever since Commander Iverson yelled at us for crashing the simulator," Hunk said softly like he was scared that he would trigger something in Lance if he spoke too loud. Pidge perked up from her place on Lance's other side and agreed, "It's true that even I noticed your odd behavior, which is weird because I usually don't care. Did you hit your head or something? I was surprised when you didn't decide to hit on Allura when you first saw her. You usually take up any chance you can get to flirt with pretty girls when you see them."

Lance shrugged, noticing the way that Keith seemed to tense up from beside Pidge and he forced back a chuckle as he remembered something.

_'I forgot that we both liked each other back in the Garrison but were too afraid to admit it so we developed that stupid rivalry to hide our feelings.'_

Lance spoke up as they entered the control room, "I don't know. I guess I was just caught up with everything that I didn't have a chance. I have to admit though, Allura is pretty but I can't see myself with her."

"Since when did that ever stop you from flirting with girls? You flirt with any girl even if you know you don't have a chance," Pidge said accusingly and Lance smirked before he tilted his head back, his eyes glinting mischievously as he stared down at the small girl, "Why stop at girls though?"

Pidge and Hunk openly gaped at Lance and Lance could see the way Keith shifted at his proclamation before Shiro interrupted, "Okay, that's enough."

Lance shrugged, sending a wink at Pidge and Hunk before turning away from the two to focus his attention to Allura. The Altean princess stepped up on the circle where he knew she controlled the ship and she closed her eyes, a bright light emitting from above her as Coran explained, "King Alfor, Princess Allura's father, connected the lions to Allura's life force. She alone is the key to the lion's whereabouts."

Allura's eyes snapped open as the light that surrounded her dispersed, the castle dimming significantly to show the glowing blue lights that formed the constellations of the whole universe. Lance looked around the room with a soft smile, his eyes drawn to where he knew the Milky Way was. Pidge looked at the floating lights before speaking softly, "These are coordinates, aren't they? Wait. The black lion looks like it's in the same location as the blue lion."

"Look at your primitive synapses firing away in their little brain cage," Coran leaned down to Pidge's height as he spoke. Allura shot a smile in her direction as she praised the disguised girl, "Very observant. That's because the black lion is in the castle."

"To keep the black lion out of Zarkon's hands, King Alfor locked it in the castle. It can only be freed if the other four lions are present," Coran explained further before Allura spoke, "As you have found, the lions choose their pilots. It is a mystical bond and **cannot** be forced at any cost. The quintessence of the pilot is shown in its lion. Together, they form something greater than science could ever explain."

Allura lifted her hand and shifted the floating lights as she explained, "The black lion is the decisive head of Voltron. It will take a pilot who is a born leader and in control at all times. Someone whose men will follow without hesitation."

The black lion floated towards Shiro, hovering in front of his face who narrowed his eyes and furrowed his eyebrows as Allura spoke, "That is why Shiro, you will pilot the black lion."

“The green lion has an inquisitive personality," Allura started as she shifted the constellations yet again and Lance could feel himself drift into his thoughts as he tuned out Allura's droning voice, _'I really hope we will be able to form Voltron. We won't have enough time to train as a team before Sendak arrives. I wonder if my bond with the lions will allow me to connect all of us and make us form Voltron. After we fight off Sendak's first attack, I should probably read up on the notes that Pidge sent me so that I know what's coming up. I should also look through that data cube thing she gave so I can get started on making that communicator with Earth so that Hunk can talk to his parents and Pidge can talk to her mom.'_

Lance was once again pulled out of his thoughts when Allura moved the blue lion's image to float in front of his face, the light glinting off his blue eyes, "The blue lion needs a pilot that can support the team emotionally. My father once told me that the blue lion is the heart of the team. It needs a pilot who can be easy going and fun-loving and yet can be the one the team can count on when needed. The blue lion is the most accepting of all the lions and this trait needs to be reflected on its pilot. Lance, the blue lion chose you for this specific reason."

Lance eyed the image of Blue lazily floating in front of his face before he shifted his gaze to the ground as he mulled over Allura's words, _'She didn't say that last time. Well, maybe because I didn't give her a chance since I interrupted her by being an absolute flirt. I'll probably need to start up with my flirting again though. Pidge and Hunk are already getting suspicious of my behavior and I can't risk them finding out until it's actually time and they're ready to hear the truth.'_

 _'Okay. Is there anything else that will tip them off? ...Oh shit, I never announced my rivalry with Keith or at least made it obvious that I dislike him. I need to start that up again or else we won't grow close,'_ Lance frowned, thinking of a way to start it up when Allura's words rang in his ears, "Keith, you will fly the red lion."

"What? This guy?" Lance said mockingly, taking the chance to reveal his ‘dislike’ for the other male as he shot a glance at Keith from the corner of his eye. Keith glared back at him and Lance could feel his heart clench painfully at the thought of being rude - almost cruelly so - to his husband once again, _'I'm so sorry babe but I have to do this. I can't allow my feelings to cloud my judgement. Everyone is counting on me to fix all this.'_

"Unfortunately, I can not locate the red lion's coordinates yet. There must be something wrong with the castle. After ten thousand years, it might need some work," Allura said sheepishly as she looked over to Coran who only grinned back cheekily, "Don't worry Princess. We'll find it soon. They don't call me the Coranic for nothing. ...It's because it sounds like mechanic. Coranic, mechanic. It doesn't sound anything like it but at least it's similar."

Suddenly the lions floating around the blue lights roared, coming to life as they all ran to the middle and show casted a beautiful display of Voltron, "Once all the lions are reunited, you will form Voltron, the most powerful warrior ever known, the defender of the universe."

"Wait. Okay, we're going to be in there and flying lions. Got that part. How do lions turn into legs? Also, is this going to be a long trip because I have to pee. Do you people pee?" Hunk rambled on before all eyes went to Shiro who spoke, "We don't have much time. Pidge and I will go after the green lion. Lance, you take Hunk and get the yellow one."

Lance felt a smile appear on his lips before his smile faltered ever so slightly, his fingers twitching when Shiro placed a hand on Keith's shoulder as the leader commanded, "Keith, you stay here. If you locate that red one, go get it."

_'Don't do anything Lance. They have a sibling relationship, you know that and besides he's not yours yet. So pull yourself together Kogane-McClain!'_

Lance was beating himself up in his head as he held back from doing something he might be unable to explain. Allura spoke up, no one realizing the inner debate Lance was having with himself, "In the mean time, I'll get this castle's defenses ready. It will be sorely needed."

"I'll ready a pod and punch in the coordinates so you can reach the green lion," Coran directed his statement to Shiro who nodded in thanks before calling out, "Let's move out!"

Lance cheered as he took hold of Hunk's arm and started dragging him towards the courtyard where Blue was waiting. Blue immediately lowered her head when she saw her fast approaching paladin and allowed the two to clamber into her cockpit. He took hold of her controls before shifting her gears towards him and pushing on the pedal to launch her into the air. Pidge and Shiro's pod caught up to them and they flew side by side as they broke through the atmosphere before separating and flying in opposite directions. Lance watched as a wormhole opened a couple of feet away from where Blue was.

"We can only keep the wormholes that lead to the other lions open for two of your Earth hours, so you'll have to be quick about your work. The good news is that according to my readings, both planets are relatively peaceful. So if you do get stuck, it could be a relaxing place to live the rest of your lives," Coran said calmly before he exclaimed excitedly, "Well enjoy the trip!"

Lance stifled the chuckle that wanted to escape his throat when he heard the other's loud protests. Once Blue exited the wormhole, Lance shifted her controls to fly up when he saw the Galra ships that were stationed on the planet. He huffed slightly as he took in the sight, grumbling to himself, "Goddammit Coran. Relatively peaceful my ass. How are we going to get around this?"

"A distraction perhaps? Like the one that we did on Earth?" Hunk suggested as he looked around the cockpit in nervousness. Lance frowned before he nodded and said, "Maybe you're right. Okay. Hold tight buddy."

"Lance? What are you-- **LANCE!** " Hunk's frightened exclaim fell on deaf ears as Lance charged forward using Blue's tail laser to shoot at the Galra ships, drawing their attention towards the mechanical cat and Hunk screamed when the Galra ships started chasing after them, " **THIS IS NOT THE PLAN! WHEN I SAID DISTRACTION, I DIDN'T MEAN US! LANCE!**"

"Just shut up and trust me!" Lance called over his shoulder as they dived down towards the canyon as they narrowly avoiding the lasers that were aimed at them. Hunk let out a groan as he steadied himself on Lance's chair, activating the device that Coran gave him to track the yellow lion, "According to the coordinates, we're right on top of the yellow lion. It's below there where they're mining for the ore! They don't even know the lion is there! Or maybe they just got here and they're digging for the lion. What do you think Lance?"

Lance looked out and down to see the cave that was surrounded by the Galra robots and drones before he turned to Hunk and instructed the large man, "I'm going to draw their attention to me. I'll drop you down there so you have to go get it okay?"

"Me? Down there? No. Nonono," Hunk started panicking, shaking his head furiously and Lance rolled his eyes before he said in a firm tone, "Yes, you will. I will cover for you. Just make it quick."

Lance ignored Hunk's loud protests as he forced Blue to dive towards the crater that was formed on the surface of the planet. Lance pulled the gears up and Blue landed on all fours heavily, running in the direction of the cave as she crushed the robots that were in her way. Lance's eye twitched when he heard Hunk's tearful rambling, "What if the yellow lion doesn't work? What if I-- What if I can't get into its mind? What if I start crying?!"

Lance sighed when he heard Hunk tearing up and sniffling roughly before he apologized quickly, "Sorry, no time or questions. Just go!"

He looked at the button that appeared on his control pad and he pushed it, forcing Hunk down the hatch that opened underneath him as the yellow paladin screamed the whole way down. Lance watched as Hunk rolled into the cave roughly using Blue to cover the cave when a few of the ships took aim at the entrance. Lance quickly took hold of Blue's controls and called out, "Come on girl! Let's do this!"

Blue let out a roar in agreement and Lance pulled on her controls causing Blue to launch into the air and he activated her thrusters to fly high into the air away from the cave. Lance drew the attention of the Galra as he flew circles around them, forcing them to shoot at one another when he avoided the shots aimed for him. He turned Blue around before pushing on her controls roughly causing her to open her mouth and shoot out a bright blue ray that hit against a couple of ships that were charging straight at her. Lance growled when he realized he was getting no where with just Blue's tail laser and mouth cannon. He quickly set Blue on autopilot before he rummaged through his bag, "Fucking hell. Where the hell is that damn thing?"

"Found you," Lance took out his bayard proudly before he looked around Blue's cockpit as he asked, "Hey girl. You think you can help out?"

Blue purred in his mind, confirming his suspicions when she opened the panel where Lance could insert his bayard and Lance let a smirk appear on his lips as he purred out, "I love this so much already."

Lance quickly inserted the bayard and Blue materialized the ice cannon on her back and Lance shifted the controls so that Blue would spin furiously while shooting the ice ray. In an instant, most of the Galra ships that were surrounding him froze before falling heavily on the ground and exploding. Lance winced slightly when he heard the multiple explosions and mumbled softly, "Thank heavens those are just robots and not real Galra."

"Oh would you look at that? More of these Galra robots that want a piece of this ass," Lance grumbled under his breath when even more Galra ships appeared out of nowhere, pulling out his bayard from the panel and shoving it back into his bag. He growled under his breath before he adjusted Blue's controls, forcing her to dive downwards into the crater and he moved out of the way when Blue growled in his mind in warning. His eyes widened when he realized the missile was heading straight for the entrance of the cave Hunk was in and he screamed in terror, " **HUNK!!!** "

The missile made contact with the cave and Lance felt his heart drop down into his stomach heavily, _'No... Nononononono! **NO!** I was supposed to get all of us out alive! Pidge shouldn't have trusted me with this! **They** shouldn't have trusted me! I messed up! Like I always do!'_

Lance started freaking out and Blue took over, allowing her pilot to gather his thoughts and trying her best of comfort him with her purrs. Lance's head suddenly snapped up and he spoke softly, "Wait... Allura said that my bonds with the lions will come back with me. I have a bond with the other lions. I can talk to them!"

Lance shut his eyes, drowning out the chaos around him as he reached out to the yellow lion. He made contact and he heard Yellow let out a small growl when Lance entered his mind, not recognizing the Cuban. Lance spoke softly, _'Hey there boy. Is Hunk with you?'_

Yellow let out a small purr in response and Lance bared his memories of him and Hunk for the yellow lion, feeling the lion rummaging through his mind and looking through his interactions with the yellow paladin. Lance felt his heart grow warm and tears gather in his eyes as Yellow retreated from his memories, the lion purring as Lance left the lion's mind. He took hold of Blue's controls and spoke softly, "He's alive. We need to get over there and help Hunk. Let's go Blue."

Blue let out a roar and Lance cheered, feeling Blue's excitement as he dived down making sure to avoid the shots that were directed at Blue. He dived towards the canyon, missing the growl of warning from Blue until it was too late and she got hit by a missile at the last second. Lance let out a groan as Blue started shaking from the impact of the hit and he tried to shift her out of the way when another missile made contact. Lance tried to steady the lion but Blue wasn't responding to him and started to crash towards the ground, "Come on girl. I know you can do this."

Blue landed on all fours but she skidded across the ground using her claws to stop herself from hitting the cliff behind her. Lance let out a groan of pain from the crash and Blue purred, trying to help him by using her quintessence before Lance stopped her, "It's okay girl. Save your energy and heal yourself. I'll be fine. Hunk will be here soon."

He looked up and he saw three Galra ships headed his way, the one in the front shooting out two missiles that were heading straight at Blue. Lance squeezed his eyes shut and he mumbled, a tinge of desperation in his voice, "Come on Hunk. Please buddy."

Lance snapped open his eyes when he heard the sound of crumbling and then an explosion and he caught a glimpse of Yellow's backside before he jumped through the smoke. The smoke cleared out just enough for Lance to see Yellow straighten up, the Galra ships sparking from being crushed by the large lion as Yellow turned to face Blue and Hunk called out, his image appearing on Lance’s screen, "You okay Lance?"

"Never been better buddy. We should get out of here. We don't know how long it has been and Coran said the princess can only hold the wormhole for two hours," Lance called out and Hunk nodded, both shooting to the sky towards the wormhole and Hunk cheered as he let Yellow do a small spin in the air, "This lion is great! It may lack in speed and agility but it sure makes it up with its armor. This thing can take a beating!"

Lance let out a small but fond chuckle but halted when Hunk got shot by one of the Galra ships and was sent spinning out of control, "Hunk, you okay?"

"I'm okay. Oh, wait, never mind," Lance heard Hunk gagging and Lance rolled his eyes in exasperation as they went through the wormhole to appear just near the castle. Lance let Blue land in the large courtyard just beside Yellow. He looked around Blue's cockpit and whispered softly, "Hey girl. Let's keep me having my bayard a secret from the others for now, yeah? They’ll ask questions especially Allura and I’m not ready to answer them.”

Blue purred in agreement and Lance chuckled as Blue lowered her head and allowed her paladin to leave. Lance stretched slightly, his shoulder popping loudly from the stress. He saw Hunk tilting his neck slightly and he heard a pop come from the larger male's neck causing him to wince as Hunk let out a groan, "And this is why I will choose engineering over piloting any day."

Lance rolled his eyes as he led the way back to the control room as he pushed against his back to make it pop. Allura turned towards them when they joined the team and she announced happily, "You made it back!"

"Yea. Just barely. We almost died out there," Lance rolled his eyes as he shot a look to Coran who raised an eyebrow, "Relatively peaceful. If that was peaceful for you, I would hate to see what you call chaotic."

Pidge shot a look towards Shiro and she said with a cheeky grin which Shiro reciprocated, "Yea, we had a hard time too."

Lance rolled his eyes as he looked at the girl who he considers a sister with a fond look on his face. Shiro looked away from Pidge to look at Allura and asked, "Did we find the red lion yet?"

"The princess just located it. There's a bit of good news and bad news. The good news is that the red lion is nearby," Coran pulled at his orange mustache before he crossed his arms over his chest, "The bad news is it's on board that Galra ship now orbiting Arus. But wait, good news again, we're Arus!"

"They're here already?!" Shiro exclaimed in shock and Coran nodded, his expression forlorn, "I'm afraid so. Guess my calculations were wrong. Finger counting is more of an art than a science really."

Lance tensed up when the screen of the castle turned into static and he shifted his relaxed stance into a more tense, battle-ready one. The screen cleared and it showed Sendak and Lance struggled to stifle the growl that wanted to leave his lips as Sendak spoke, "Princess Allura, this is Commander Sendak of the Galra Empire. I come on behalf of Emperor Zarkon, lord of the known universe. I am here to confiscate the lions. Turn them over to me or I will destroy your planet."

Sendak's image disappeared from the screen and Lance bit his lip, his eyes darkening slightly but before he could react, Shiro beat him to it, "Okay. Let's not panic."

" **Not** panic? That scary purple alien is charging his alien ship towards us and we have only - what? - three working lions and a castle that is almost ten thousand years old. Now is the perfect time to panic Shiro!" Hunk screeched as he tried to reason with the senior officer. Allura suddenly perked up as she spoke, "Wait a tic. This castle has a particle barrier that we could activate."

 _'Okay. Get back into your flirty character. Now's your chance. I'm so sorry for hitting on your future empress, Lotor,'_ Lance mused to himself as he tilted his head back a bit, seductive and playful smirk appearing on his lips as he purred out, "Girl, you already activated my part--"

  
"Lance," Shiro shot a look at him and the Cuban pouted, crossing his arms over his chest and he saw Hunk and Pidge share a look of relief that was mixed with exasperation from the corner of his eye and he cheered slightly in his head, knowing that he cleared their suspicions on him for now. He also saw the look of defeat and jealousy that crossed Keith's normally brooding self before it disappeared and Lance couldn't help but feel a slight twinge of guilt that was eating at him. Coran crossed his arms as he spoke, "The particle barrier of this castle won't hold off Sendak's ion cannon forever though. The Galra technology must have advanced since we fought them last time."

Lance stared to drown out the other's voices as he tried to make contact with Red to try and enforce their bond, _'Hey boy. Can you hear me?'_

Lance was only met with silence, not even a muffled purr and he let a frown appear on his lips, _'Maybe Allura was wrong. Maybe my bond with the lions didn't come back with me. Wait, but that doesn't make any sense. I was able to communicate with Yellow even before I saw him in person. Maybe I could only connect with Yellow because of my friendship with this Hunk?'_

 _'Hey Green, can you hear me girl?'_ Lance called out to Pidge's lion and he heard a distinct but muffled purring that came from the lion. He opened his mind for Green and she took the opportunity to shuffle through his memories of him interacting with Future Pidge as he pondered, _'Okay. That doesn't help much. I also have a friendship with this Pidge so of course I would be able to communicate with Green. Wait. I don't have a solid friendship with this Shiro yet! We barely talked so maybe if I can't communicate with Black, it means that I need to have some kind of stable and familiar relationship with their paladin.'_

Lance uncrossed his arms and shoved his hands into his pockets as he retracted from Green's mind - who only purred after seeing his memories - and reached out for the black lion being careful not to call attention to himself in case Zarkon could somehow sense him, _'Hey boy. Can you hear me?'_

Black's muffled purr sounded in response and he stopped the smirk that wanted to make itself known on his face as he mused to himself, thrusting his memories of him and Shiro to Black and not minding as the lion looked through them, _'Okay, so I don't need a relationship with the paladin to communicate with the lions. Red must be acting stubborn as always, like paladin like lion, I suppose.'_

Lance was pulled out of his musing - Black growling happily after looking through his memories - when Hunk spoke up, "I suggest we wormhole out of here and live to fight another day! We only have three lions, we can't form Voltron. Well, I guess maybe we can form a snake? Or a worm to go through that wormhole I was talking about?"

"We can't just abandon Arus. The Galra will continue destroying planets and capturing prisoners until we stop them," Pidge fought back with a frown on her face. Hunk started to speak up as he tried to reason with the short cross dresser, "Okay. If we run, maybe Sendak will follow us and leave this planet alone like when we left Earth."

"Sendak will destroy the planet then come after us anyway. Staying is our only option," Keith scoffed as he shot a look at Hunk. Lance ignored the bickering around him as he tried to communicate with Red once again, _'Red, remember me? Lancey-Lance?'_

Red tried to stay quiet but Lance could hear the soft growling coming from the lion. He let a small but unnoticeable smile appear on his lips as he reached out again, baring his memories of his time with Keith to the lion, _'Remember me sweetheart? I'm the husband of your future paladin.'_

Red finally responded back, his loud purring resounding in Lance's mind and Lance let out a cheer in his head before he talked to Red who was shuffling through his future interactions with Keith, _'We're going to come rescue you okay boy?'_

Red growled softly but not in a threatening way and before Lance could continue talking to him, he was pulled away harshly from his zone when Pidge and Hunk started yelling at each other which was instantly shot down by Shiro, "Guys! Stop! Now!"

Lance blinked back to reality and he turned to face Shiro who was looking at Allura as he ignored the look of curiosity that he knew Keith was shooting at him for his odd silence.

Shiro spoke, direction all his attention to the princess as he ignored the two tech geeks that were huffing at each other, "Princess Allura, these are your lions. You've dealt with the Galra Empire before. You know what we're facing better than any of us have. What do you think is the best course of action for us to take?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay. I apologize for the rant in the beginning of the notes. Someone pointed out how many flaws my story line had and I was really disappointed at myself for not including it to make it clearer for you readers. I'll try harder to make sure that I write better.
> 
> I write all the time but I never publish or post it because I'm always scared of what people will think. I'm sorry if my story doesn't satisfy your imagination but I'm really trying my best. I hope you guys will help me improve my writing by telling me if I miss mentioning something or there's a really big plot hole that I could cover up. I really want to make this enjoyable for you guys to read so I'll try harder to make it better.
> 
> On that note, don't forget to leave kudos if you like it, bookmark it so that you can find it whenever you want, and subscribe to the story so you will get updates on when I post a chapter.
> 
> Leave any comments, good or bad. I will take it and use it to improve my work. Although, if you are here to just trash it instead of helping me improve I will kick your ass out of the comment section. 
> 
> Stay tuned for the next chapter!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Amazing. I've never seen a bayard take multiple shapes at just the first interaction. Usually, it changes when it realizes you unlocked any hidden potential."  
> \----  
> 'I need to find Matt and Commander Holt as soon as we leave Arus. I also need someone in the rebel fighters to tell my plans so I need to restore Matt's memories. Also, I need to contact the Blade of Marmora soon. I also need to get a location on Lotor.'  
> \----  
> "You should try working in the training deck."
> 
> "There's a training deck?"  
> \----  
> "Well done Lance! Even with your hostility with Number four, you seem to put all your trust in him."
> 
> 'Oh you have no idea.'  
> \----  
> 'I am in too deep.'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry you guys had to wait longer than usual for this update. I got stuck on a certain part and I wasn't sure how to proceed but I had some help from one of my reader.
> 
> Shout out to falsechaos for helping me out when I got stuck. I can't take you enough since I've been stressed over this damn chapter for a while.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoy!

_Shiro spoke, direction all his attention to the princess as he ignored the two tech geeks that were huffing at each other, "Princess Allura, these are your lions. You've dealt with the Galra Empire before. You know what we're facing better than any of us have. What do you think is the best course of action for us to take?"_

\----

"I... I have no idea," Allura spoke softly with a hint of defeat, looking at the ground with a mildly upset look plastered on her face. Coran looked over to Allura before he suggested, "Perhaps your father can help, princess."

"My father?" Allura looked surprised at the suggestion as Coran walked up to her, talking hold of her shoulder and beckoning her towards the exit. Lance just turned his head and watched with sad eyes as Coran and Allura left the control room to go in the direction where he knew King Alfor's memories were. He turned away from the door before he looked back to his team with a tilt of his head, "So, what do you think we should do while they're gone?"

"It's amazing how advanced the technology of this place is," Pidge muttered softly, walking around the control room and Lance could see the way her fingers were twitching, a trait he knew she had when she was holding herself back. Lance chuckled before he stuffed his hands into his pockets, "I'm more amazed that there is life outside of our solar system."

Hunk mumbled in agreement, frightened at the thought of how Earth was unknowing of what was beyond their reach. Shiro suddenly perked up before he turned to look at Lance, "Lance, I have been wondering."

"Hmm?"

"Where did you learn to fight? Did the Garrison teach you?" Lance froze up at the question and he turned to look at his leader's eyes, curiosity glinting off of them. Lance gulped before he started playing with the sleeves of his jacket, "Uh, no. The Garrison didn't teach me. I-uh-got someone to teach me."

"Dude, it was so cool how you took out all those workers in the Garrison and then pinning down Coran like it was nothing. You told Coran that you were moving on instinct. How come whenever I snuck up on you, you never acted like that?" Hunk asked, his head tilted as he looked at Lance.

Lance felt his eye twitch and he mumbled weakly, "I didn't want to hurt you so I never acted on my instincts."

"What's the name of the person who taught you to fight?" Lance tensed up when he heard his husband ask him a question and he turned slowly to look at Keith who was eyeing him suspiciously. He swallowed the lump that was in his throat before opening his mouth to answer when the doors slid open to reveal Allura in her paladin armor and her long flowy hair tied into a bun. Lance felt his body relax when he realized that he didn't have to lie to his husband although he could see the disappointed looks on the other's faces from being interrupted before they could get answers. Allura didn't realize the tension in the room before she spoke, "You five paladins were brought here for a reason. The Voltron lions were meant to be piloted by you and you alone. We must fight and keep fighting until we defeat Zarkon. It is our destiny. Voltron is the universe's only hope.  **WE**  are the universe's only hope."

Lance's baby blue eyes dimmed significantly at her speech as Shiro answered, "We're with you princess."

"Then follow me," Allura commanded as she turned on her heel, motioning for the paladins to follow her as she walked out the control room. Shiro instantly followed with Keith, Hunk, and Pidge following right after. Lance hung behind, looking around the control room before hardening his purpose and rushing to catch up with the others. They walked silently to where Lance knew the armory was located and Allura announced as she presented the paladins their suits, "Your suits of armor."

Lance instantly walked up to the blue paladin armor, placing his fingers lightly against the glass case the suit was stored in as he mumbled softly with a small smile dancing on his lips, "This is really happening. There's no going back now."

He ignored everything happening around him as he looked at the armor. He was pulled out of his daze when Shiro called out, a minuscule hint of pride in his voice, "Boys, it's time to suit up!"

Lance pulled the armor out of the case when the glass slid up and he walked off behind a pillar, stripping off his regular clothing before pulling the armor on in almost no time after having done it so many times before. He stepped out from behind the pillar where he was hiding behind and he looked around, realizing that he was the first one dressed. He waited patiently for the others by tapping his foot against the floor as they each started to emerge from their hiding/dressing places. Allura walked up to the table and place her hand on it before taking her hand off as the glass on top of the table dissolved to reveal the four bayards: red, green, yellow, and blue.

"The bayard is the traditional weapon of the paladins of Voltron," Allura introduced as the four bayards lifted off the table and floated to their respective colored paladin, "It takes a distinct shape for each paladin."

Hunk took hold of his bayard and he watched it curiously as it lit up and turned into a machine gun that hit the ground with a loud bang due to him not supporting it properly. Keith took hold of his and it turned into a sword and the arm that was not holding the sword, lit up slightly and he activated a shield. Pidge took hold of her bayard and it turned into a small spade that was glowing an ominous green color which she started to swing around to get a feel of. Lance looked at his bayard with fear visible in his blue eyes before Allura cut through his thoughts, "Is something the matter Lance?"

 _'Other than the fact that I might instinctively shift my bayard through all of its forms out of habit, not really,'_  Lance screamed in his mind before shaking his head, his eyes meeting with the team's curious looks. Lance chuckled weakly and he mumbled softly, "Oh, it's nothing."

 _'Here goes nothing,'_  Lance shakily reached out and took hold of his bayard that was floating lazily in front of him. He willed it to form into his blaster and he watched as it took form. He let out a sigh of relief at seeing his blaster, relaxing slightly when he thought he was off the hook.

Blink. It turned into a rifle.

Blink. It turned into a sniper.

Blink. It transformed into a sword.

Blink. It transformed back into his blaster.

He tensed up in fear as he lifted his gaze from his bayard to look at Allura with fearful wide eyes who only stared back at him stunned before she mumbled, "Amazing. I've never seen a bayard take multiple shapes at just the first interaction. Usually, it changes when it realizes you unlocked any hidden potential. It's also a surprise it didn't stay in its last form. What was it? A sword? Usually the bayard will stay at the last form it took unless the paladin is willing it to stay in its first form."

Lance stared at her fearfully before he looked away to avoid any suspicious looks on his team's face. Pidge suddenly made a squawking noise and all eyes turned to her as she studied the blaster Lance was holding, "Wait. Where have I seen that blaster?"

"Uhhh..."

"Oh wait. Pidge, remember what Lance used to set off those bombs when we were rescuing Shiro?" Hunk quickly questioned as he looked at Pidge before he continued, "It looks just like that, except the blaster he used back on Earth was red."

Pidge and Hunk turned to eye Lance with a suspicious look and Lance resisted the urge to gulp as he tried to relax himself, "What are you talking about? I got that blaster as a gift from a really pretty girl."

Before Pidge and Hunk could question him further, Allura interrupted as she faced Shiro, "Shiro, I'm afraid your bayard was lost with its paladin."

"I guess I'll have to make do with whatever I can," Shiro said weakly as they all headed back to the control room. Lance avoided eye contact with anyone especially Pidge and Hunk, knowing that they would question him or accidentally make the connection that the blaster he had on Earth was almost exactly the same as the one he had on now,  _'Damn you bayard. Why couldn't you just stay in your blaster form? Why did you have to shift through all the forms that I had in the future? I hope that I will have enough time to come up with something if Pidge and Hunk approach me about the bayard.'_

"You will need to retrieve the red lion from Sendak's ship," Allura announced when they entered the control room, stepping up to her pedestal and allowing the screen of the castle to light up with an image of Sendak's ship. Keith muttered as he inspected the image, "That's a... pretty big ship. How are we going to know where the red lion is?"

"Well, it's not a matter of we, it's a matter of  **you** ," Pidge said as she crossed her arms over her chest and turned to face Keith, a small smile dancing on her lips.

Hunk nodded as he agreed animatedly with Pidge, "Pidge is right you know. Once we get you in, you'll be able to feel its presence and track it down."

 _'Technically I can find Red as well because of my bond with him but they don't need to know that,'_  Lance chuckled and let a small smirk appear on his lips as he spoke up causing Keith to turn to look at him, "Yea. You know how you felt all that crazy energy while we were in the desert?"

"Yea. You made fun of me for that," Keith scoffed, a small frown on his face and Lance crossed his arms over his chest as he quirked an eyebrow, "And I'm actually proud of that. Turns out it's just like that mumbo-jumbo."

Allura turned away from the screen to fixate her gaze at the red paladin and reminded him, "Keith, remember. The red lion is extremely temperamental. You'll need to earn its respect and and trust."

Lance saw the half-Galra's grey-violet eyes narrow at the obvious challenge and felt his own eyes narrow out when he saw Shiro place his hand on the shorter male's shoulder to try and calm him down.

Shiro looked at the others as he explained, "Alright. Here's our plan of attack. The Galran Empire knows about the blue and yellow lions but they don't know that we have the green lion as well. Hunk, Lance, you'll act as a decoy and give yourself up and while Sendak is distracted by you two, Keith, Pidge and I will sneak on the ship on the green lion. Keith and I will go search for the red lion while Pidge will guard our exit. Hunk, Lance, find some way to take out the ion cannon on that ship."

The whole team nodded and they all rushed to the courtyard where the lions were waiting. Lance practically jumped into Blue's seat and took hold of her handles as he greeted her, "Ready for this girl?"

Blue let out a small thrum in response and his bright blue eyes sparkled as he spoke, "Then let's do this."

He pulled on her controls, forcing her to launch herself into the air. He activated his com and called out to Hunk, "Hunk, buddy, you there?"

"Yea. I'm here," Hunk's face appeared on Lance's screen and Lance nodded slightly as he asked, "Ready for this?"

"No. What if this goes wrong? What if the Galra decide to attack us? What if I can't fly this lion properly and I slow you down? What if we can't destroy that ion cannon?!" Hunk cried, tears appearing in his wide eyes and Lance frowned before he asked, "Do you trust me Hunk?"

"Huh? Where is this coming from?" Hunk asked in confusion, his eyes still wide with tears.

Lance softened his gaze as he asked, "Just answer me. Do you trust me?"

"You know the answer to that buddy," Hunk mumbled underneath his breath as he nodded, "Of course I trust you."

"Then trust me to know that I will have your back when you need me. I will do everything I can to protect you," Lance said softly, easing larger male who sniffled slightly. He saw Hunk wipe at his eyes before the yellow paladin nodded, "Okay, I trust you Lance."

"Good. Then let's do this," Lance said as he took the lead, Hunk following behind him as they flew up to the Galra ship he knew Sendak was in. He started to slow down Blue as he sent a message to Sendak, "Attention Galra ship, do not fire. We are surrendering our lions."

He cut the line short and he watched as the ship start to open what looked like doors for the two lions. Lance lifted a hand to activate his com to Pidge, "Pidge, what's your ETA?"

"We're in," Pidge's voice sounded softly in Lance's ear and before he could reply back, he saw the entrance that the Galra ship open up start to light. His eyes narrowed as Hunk asked, "What's that thing?"

"That's our signal to get out of here! Move Hunk!" Lance called out and he quickly adjusted Blue's controls to fly away from the tractor beam that almost disintegrated them. Lance looked over to where Yellow was floating and called out, "Hunk, you take out the ion cannon. I'll distract these guys and cover for you."

"Affirmative!"

Lance activated Blue's thrusters and charged forward to the ships that were headed his way. He flew circles around them, shooting them using Blue's tail laser before dodging a ray that almost grazed Blue's side. Lance caught a glimpse of Hunk using Yellow to body slam the ion cannon only to be thrown off by what looked like a force field surrounding the cannon. Lance shook himself out of his reverie before pushing Blue's gears forward, allowing her to fly around the large Galra ship making the small ships follow after him while he evaded the rays aimed at Blue.

He blinked slightly when he heard Red's soft growling - almost sounding like laughter to him - echoing in his mind. He reached into his mind to connect with Red and Red allowed him, seeing through the large mechanical lion's eyes to see Keith yelling at the lion from outside Red's force field, "It's me, Keeeeeith! I am your paladin!"

He burst out laughing, tears of laughter prickling at his eyes before he talked to Red,  _'Make sure he doesn't get himself killed okay? Keep him safe.'_

Red purred back in agreement as the Cuban retracted away from his connection with Red, focusing back on Blue as he used her mouth cannon to shoot at five or so fighter ships. He looked over to see how Hunk was doing to see him activating Yellow's mouth cannon. He watched as the force field surrounding the ion cannon fell and Yellow instantly charged at the cannon, body slamming into it and crushing one side of it.

He saw the green lion and red lion leave the ship and he rushed over to them as Hunk's image appeared on his screen, the big man cheering, "You guys made it out!"

"Kitty Rose has left the building!" Pidge announced happily, her face appearing on Lance's screen beside Hunk's.

Lance chuckled before he called out, "Then let's get the heck out of here."

"I hope I stopped that cannon. I could barely make a dent in it," Lance watched as Yellow jumped off the Galra ship and flew in their direction, all of them heading back to Arus and to the castle. Lance saw that the particle barrier was up and surrounding the castle and they all flew in, the four mechanical lions flying into Black's hangar as they sat in front of the door where Black was behind.

Lance reached into his mind, making a connection with Black as he whispered,  _'Hey Black. We're here to get you out.'_

Black purred in appreciation and the eyes of the four lions all started to glow yellow causing the door leading to the black lion to light up in a blue color before it slid upwards slowly to reveal the black mechanical cat. Black's eyes flashed yellow and he stood on all fours, letting out a roar which caused the other four lions to stand on all fours and let out a resonating roar in response.

Lance heard the alarms blaring and he tightened his hold on Blue's controls, trying to get the reassurance from her constant thrums. Lance took a deep breath in before he reached out for all the lions,  _'Please. I may not be the leader right now and I know that this team and I don't have the bonds to properly form Voltron but please, we need to be able to form Voltron.'_

He heard the purrs and growls of the other lions through his connection with them and he let a smile appear on his face, shifting Blue's handles and followed Black upwards and out of the castle. They all landed on the castle's courtyard and he looked up at the approaching Galra ship. In an instant, memories of when he lost his teammates and loved ones to the Galra started assaulting him and he felt tears bubbling in his eyes but he quickly shook them away, struggling to keep his emotions at bay.

He snapped out of it when he heard Shiro's voice resonating in his ear from his com, "Listen up Team Voltron. The only way to succeed is to give it everything you've got. This may look bad but we can do this. Are you with me?"

Even though he knew they couldn't see him, Lance nodded as he ignored the bead of sweat that trailed down his temple and down his chin. He took a deep breath in and set Blue on autopilot, closing his eyes as he ignored the chaos happening around him. He could hear the desperate and defeated voices of his teammates, he could hear Allura's panicked voice, and he could now feel the pull of the lions being sucked into Sendak's ship. He gulped heavily, eyes screwed shut as he mumbled softly, "Please."

"Sendak's ship is sucking us in like a black hole!" Pidge screeched as the ion cannon charged up before shooting at the castle, destroying the particle barrier surrounding the castle. Lance looked to the side, seeing the feed of the castle as the particle barrier fell leaving it defenseless before hearing Shiro's defeated mutter, "Oh no."

"Ah! I don't care what you say Shiro! I'm panicking now!" Hunk wailed and Lance was certain there were tears prickling in the corner of the yellow paladin's eyes even without seeing him.

Lance kept his mouth shut as he listened to the defeated last words of his fellow paladins. He tightened his hold on his controls and he called out, drawing his team's attention to him, "No! We can do this! We have to believe in ourselves. I know I'm not the leader and I know that you guys may not listen to me but we can't give up! We're the universe's only hope. Everyone is relying on us. We can't fail. We  **won't** fail. If we just work together, we will win! Right Shiro? Right guys?"

Everyone perked up from the pep talk and they all shouted in agreement. Lance felt the lions purring loudly in his mind and his eyes widened as a smile broke out on his lips. The lions' eyes started glowing a bright yellow and they all raised their heads, letting out a roar in unison as they started glowing in their respective paladin color before they broke out of Sendak's hold.

Lance couldn't help the tears that flowed down his cheeks as the lions started to combine to form Voltron. Lance reached out to his connection with the lions wiping at his cheeks to rid them of the tears,  _'We did it. Thank you.'_

Voltron flew towards the ship and used Red to punch the ion cannon to force the shot that it was gathering to fly past the castle and into the mountains. The other paladins started commenting excitedly before Shiro stopped them, a hint of excitement laced in his own voice.

"I know we're all excited but first we need to get that cannon!"

Voltron turned to the cannon using Green and Red to clamp their jaws on the cannon before they tugged hard on the cannon, ripping it from the ship and tossing it near the Arusian's village. They punched a hole through the ship using Red and Red opened his mouth, activating his mouth cannon and blasting a ray that went through the whole ship. Voltron flew up, using Blue to kick through the ship before using Green to punch another hole through the ship as she used her mouth cannon. They flew out of the hole before flying high into the air, the paladins screaming in unison as they charged clean through the ship. They flew down to the ground and skidded to a stop as the ship behind them exploded into bits.

 _'We're back baby!'_  Lance cheered in his head as Voltron disassembled and they all flew the lions back to the castle, landing in the courtyard and scrambling out. Allura and Coran ran out to meet them at the entrance of the castle and the princess greeted them with a bright smile playing on her lips, "Good work paladins!"

"Why thank you pretty lady," Lance winked in Allura's direction once he removed his helmet, his brown hair disheveled and the Cuban risked a small glance in Keith's direction to see the half-alien's shoulders slumped in what he knew was defeat before he straightened up to not show what he was feeling. Lance felt guilt eating at his heart as Shiro smiled happily, "We did it."

Keith tugged on his helmet, sweat dripping down his now smiling face once he got his helmet off his head and Lance couldn't help the way his heart raced at seeing his husband's smiling face, "Heck yeah we did."

Lance felt the jealousy creeping up his spine when the smile he grew to love was directed in Shiro's direction instead of his and Shiro asked in wonder, "How did we do it?"

"I was just screaming the whole time. Maybe that did it," Hunk stood up as he struggled to tug his helmet off his large head.

Pidge pulled her glasses out of her armor and placed it on her face, an upset look gracing her face before Shiro placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, "We're not going to stop searching until we find your brother and father. Wherever they are, I know they'll be proud of you Pidge."

Pidge looked over to Shiro before sending a soft smile in the leader's direction. Lance looked away from the two, his gaze unwavering,  _'I'll bring back your brother and father for you Katie. I promised you that I would.'_

"We won the battle but the war has only just begun. I'm afraid Zarkon won't stop until he gets these lions," Allura spoke as she let her eyes scan over the paladins before stopping at Coran. Coran kept his arms behind his back as he stated, "Good thing you paladins know what you're doing because you're going to need to form Voltron again and again."

"Totally," Hunk spoke proudly before his expression deflated, staring at the Altean in disbelief, "Wait, what?"

"We barely survived forming Voltron this one time," Pidge complained as Coran crossed his arms over his chest as he gestured dramatically, "Yea. And you only had to fight one ship. Wait until you have to fight a whole fleet of them. No one said it was going to be easy being the defenders of the universe."

The team all perked up at the title before Shiro spoke, the corner of his lips tilting upwards, "Defender of the universe, huh?"

"That's got a nice ring to it," Shiro turned to face the large lions looming over them with the others following his example. Lance shifted his gaze away from the lions to look over his teammates, his heart warming when he saw the beginning of the team he grew with forming once again,  _'I won't let you guys down.'_

\----

Lance was up all night, reading through the timeline that Pidge provided for him to help him plan his strategy as well as the cube that acted as a guide. He was seated on his bed, still donned in his paladin armor as he backed himself up against the wall. He had a small notepad open on his lap as he jotted down important things that he needed to change and reminders of the things he needed to get done soon.

 _'Okay. According to these notes, we will have a few days before Haggar will send her first ever Robobeast to Arus. During those few days, we will be training to form Voltron and strengthen our bonds with each other as well as our lions. I will need to be able to hide my secrets from the others when the mind melding exercise comes. After we successfully form Voltron, the Arusians will seek us out and we will go visit their village. During that visit, the Robobeast should be headed towards Arus already. After the fiasco with the Robobeast, there will be that party with the Arusians and then Sendak will come after us,'_ Lance frowned slightly as he ran a hand through his thick brown hair, shifting slightly on his bed to get more comfortable. The Cuban tensed up when he heard the castle alarm's blaring out and Allura's frantic voice piercing through the quiet morning air, "Paladins! The castle is under attack! We need Voltron immediately! Zarkon is attacking!"

Lance quickly shoved the phone, the cube and his notes underneath his pillow before he grabbed his bayard that was located under his pillow, storing it in the storage unit that was built into his armor. He grabbed his helmet that was resting at the foot of his bed, pulling it on his head before he rushed out of his room. He ran down the corridors, his eyes hard as he skidded into the control room looking around frantically for the danger. He blinked when he saw Shiro being the only other one dressed in his paladin armor while the other three were dressed in their casual clothing - Hunk being in his pajamas.

Lance twitched when he recalled that this was just a drill,  _'Goddammit.'_

He sighed as he dropped his tensed stance, relaxing his tense shoulders as Shiro asked, "I'm guessing that there wasn't an actual attack?"

"And it's a good thing it wasn't! Because it took you...? Coran?" Allura growled before she turned to look at Coran for an answer who only shrugged. Allura sighed before she turned her gaze back to the paladins, "However long it was, it was  **too**  long. You must always be ready to go into battle against Zarkon. Look at all of you! Only Shiro and Lance are in uniform!"

Lance sighed before he reached up to pull his helmet off his head, running his fingers through his tangled hair. He looked at Allura and spoke, drawing her attention to him, "Calm down Princess. You have to give us some slack. We've never been properly trained for this. We don't have the survival training for war. We'll get the hang of this."

Lance saw Allura's jaw clench and he sighed, dropping his hand from tangling in his hair, "Listen Princess. I know that this is hard for you. You woke up and you're being shoved into a war that you didn't sign up for. Heck, none of us did but we're here now. You just have to trust us to help you win this war okay?"

He strolled up to the princess and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, murmuring softly, "Relax Princess. We'll end this war. You just have to believe in us to do that. You have to give us time to cope and adjust to this lifestyle instead of getting angry at us."

"Okay. I trust you all, but you must be able to form Voltron soon. We never know when Zarkon will attack us next," Allura took a deep breath in and Lance retracted his hand from her shoulder when she finally calmed down. He took a step back as he rubbed at his eyes, a yawn escaping his lips, "I should have tried to get some sleep last night."

"You didn't sleep?" Shiro asked, worry crossing his features and Lance nodded tiredly.

"I was up all night thinking about stuff especially about what I got myself into when I joined this intergalactic war. I was thinking about the sacrifices I have to make so that Earth is safe. I had to leave my family behind. I... I don't even know if my family knows if I'm alive."

 _'That reminds me. I probably need to start searching on the materials for the long distant communicator so I can tell my family and so that Hunk and Pidge can contact their parents as well,'_ Lance bit his lip as he turned his gaze on the ground. He took a shaky breath in before shaking himself to rid himself of his thoughts. He lifted his head and smiled, ignoring the concerned look on his team's faces, "Don't worry about it. I'm sure we'll stop Zarkon before he ever gets to Earth. Right Princess?"

Lance turned to face Allura whose lips only turned downward. She walked off the circle she controlled the ship from and lifted a hand where a pad appeared out of thin air where her hand was hovering over, pushing on a couple of buttons, "I hope so but you must understand the state of our mission. Over the last ten thousand years, the castle picked up on distress beacons from the following locations."

The windows of the castle shut down and the floating blue lights of the constellations appeared, almost all of them colored red instead of blue. Allura spoke as she looked around the room, scanning over the constellations, "We have to assume that Zarkon took control over almost all of the known universe."

"Our mission is to free all planets under Zarkon's rule. Coran and I are getting the castle ready to leave Arus. During that time period, you all have to be able to form Voltron," Allura's eyes narrowed and the whole team nodded before heading to the chutes that led them to their lions.

Lance frowned, moving on autopilot as he thought about his first course of action,  _'I need to find Matt and Commander Holt as soon as we leave Arus. I also need someone in the rebel fighters to tell my plans so I need to restore Matt's memories. Once I restore Matt's memories, we will send Commander Holt back_ _to_ _Earth so that he can warn them. I'll get Matt to help me recruit prisoners for the rebel fighters so we have allies when we go up against Zarkon._ _Also,_ _I need to contact the Blade of Marmora soon as well but I don't know how I'll be able to do that until Shiro remembers Ulaz helping him escape. The only problem with that is that if I wait for too long, I won't be able to save Ulaz from his untimely death. I need to find a way to trigger Shiro's memory of his time with the Galra before Haggar sends out that Robobeast.'_

Lance blinked back to reality when Blue purred loudly in his mind and he realized that he was in Blue's cockpit. He took hold of her controls before pulling them up so that Blue will fly out of her hangar and guided her towards the bride where the other three were waiting. He rolled his eyes fondly when he remembered Hunk's struggle with the chute and he decided to muse while they waited for him. He crossed his legs in a figure four and pursed his lips,  _'I also need to get a location on Lotor and talk things out with him to get him on our side before Zarkon and Haggar get to him. I wonder if Matt might know a location on the emperor since Pidge said he was working in that spy unit thing._ _Once I get Lotor on our side, we_ _need to get Lotor and Allura to Oriande so that they can master Altean alchemy and gain the white lion. Maybe this time Lotor_ _won't_ _be a dumb ass and will be able to get it the first time. We need to gather allies for the Voltron Coalition again and hopefully we don't lose Shiro like we did last time. I do not want to deal with Kuron again, nasty little fucker.'_

Lance perked up when he heard the sound of Yellow landing beside Green, Hunk complaining about the distance of the hangars to the bridge.

"Okay guys. Let's just fly in tight formation until we're totally in sync," Shiro said, his face appearing on Lance's screen.

Allura's image also appeared on screen beside Shiro's and he resisted the urge to roll his eyes, listening to her instructions, "Feel the bond with your lion as well as your fellow paladins. Only then will you be able to form Voltron."

 _'Great this mumbo-jumbo. I keep forgetting that these are not my teammates. Well technically they are they just don't have the same experience I do because I'm older than them in mind. Oh god, does that make me an old man? I think I'm the same age as Shiro now!'_  Lance wailed in his head, pushing Blue forward and followed the rest as they attempted to yell their way into forming Voltron.

He held back the urge to smack his forehead at their stupid yelling before Keith suggested, tired of just flying and getting no where, "Okay. This isn't working. How about we try stacking on top of each other?"

"It's worth a try," Shiro shrugged as they all flew down to the ground and started stacking on top of each other, Hunk insisting that he was on top. They all arranged themselves - Lance just rolling with it - and Shiro instructed softly, "Feel the bond with your lions. Channel your energy and focus on forming Voltron."

Lance shut his eyes, reaching out to his lion as well as the other lions. Once his connections with the lions were secure, he tried to reach out for the bonds with his team mates when Shiro broke his focus, "This isn't working. Let's take a break."

"I don't mean to interrupt paladins but I might be able to help. Yesterday, you weren't able to form Voltron until you were in the heat of battle, correct?" Allura asked and Lance huffed when he realized where this was going. The others agreed reluctantly and the blue paladin saw the way Allura's eyes started sparkling like blue gemstones.

She announced happily as she looked off to the side, "Perfect because I need to run a diagnostic test on all the castle's defenses."

He saw Allura adjusting some controls that he knew were floating beside her as she exclaimed with excitement, "This should help you all."

"Now's the time to run guys," Lance warned the others, quickly shifting Blue's handles when he heard the tell tale of their doom. He pushed on Blue's pedal, making her launch into the air and activated her boosters to get away from the castle as far as he could while also keeping the others in his sight.

The others sounded confused at his warning before the castle started shooting lasers at them and only then did they start running. Lance flew in the air, spinning as he avoided the lasers that he knew Allura locked on him. He had a bored expression on his face as he continued avoiding the rays that flew past him. This routine continued on for almost an hour - Lance listening to his team mates' panicked screams while he almost lazily dodged the assault - before the shootings stopped.

He flew down to the ground to join the others who he heard were panting through his com. He watched as the particle barrier dropped and Hunk cheered, "Let's get in. I do not want to be target practice."

They all agreed and they flew their lions back into their respective hangars. Lance walked out of Blue's cockpit, placing a hand on her cool metallic claw, "I'll check up on you later just to see if you took any damage okay girl? I'm almost certain you didn't get hit but you need to rest up just in case you did."

Blue purred and he headed towards the lounge where the others were already at, seated around the couch. Lance walked over before flopping on his side, his feet kicked up as he closed his eyes, "That was tiring."

"You barely made a sound. It was like you weren't even there!" Pidge whined, slumped back as she looked at Lance who only opened his eyes to stare blankly at her. Hunk pouted before he wailed, "And it's no fair! I saw you barely took any hits! It's like you're a pro at flying your lion."

 _'Maybe because I am?'_ Lance rolled his eyes before he shrugged, shutting his eyes to get some rest. He almost fell asleep when the door to the lounge opened and he heard Allura's voice, "Are we on full power on condenser number five yet?"

Lance heard Coran sigh before the Altean male spoke, "No, still just eighty four percent."

"You did it! You formed Voltron!" Allura's voice was laced in excitement and Lance cracked open his eyes. He turned his head to face Allura and Coran as Keith spoke tiredly, "No, the shooting stopped and the particle barrier shut down so we just flew back in."

"What?" Allura's delighted expression deadpanned before she turned to look at Coran with a glare.

Coran chuckled weakly before he let out a string of apologies, "Uh, right, sorry Princess. I had to turn off the castle's defenses to test the fire suppressors."

Lance shifted his gaze away from the two Alteans when the sound of a door opening interrupted, Shiro's voice resonated, "What are you guys doing in here? We're not taking a break."

"Shiro's right. You should be training," Allura stated firmly.

"We've been training. When are we going back to Earth?" Hunk groaned, tossing his head back in agitation.

"I'm not going back until I find my family," Pidge muttered as she hunched forward. Shiro sighed before he said, "Guys, there won't be an Earth if we don't find a way to stop Zarkon."

"How are we even going to fight? We can't even figure out a way to form Voltron," Lance muttered softly as Coran said, "I'm not surprised. The original paladins fought hundreds of battles together, side by side."

Lance shrugged as he mumbled, "Yea. Sorry to burst your bubble but that's definitely not us."

"During the last battle, your survival instincts forced you to work as a team but that can only get you so far. You will need to become a real team if you want any chance of fighting any battle and defeating Zarkon next time," Coran stated bluntly before he suggested, "You should try working in the training deck."

Lance forced himself to sit up, asking as he hid his excitement, "There's a training deck?"

"Of course there is, follow me," Coran motioned for them to follow and they all stood, heading towards where Lance already knew the training deck was. Coran led them inside before saying, "Wait here. I'll work the controls."

Coran pranced off and they were all standing around in the middle of the room awkwardly in silence until Coran's voice boomed around them, "Two, two. One, two. The paladin code states that you need to put your teammates' safety above your own."

 _'And that's what killed my husband,'_  Lance mused bitterly as he glimpsed over his shoulder to see Keith whose back was turned to him.

Coran continued, explaining the instructions of the exercise to the team, "A swarm of drones is about to attack. It's up to each of you to do everything you can do to protect the other members of your team."

Lance's vivid blue eyes dimmed significantly when he saw the round drones fly towards them before surrounding the five paladins. He immediately activated his shield as Shiro advised, "Get ready guys."

In an instant, a drone shot at Hunk who immediately ducked. Lance saw the ray heading for Pidge's back and quickly jumped in the way, the shot bouncing off his shield. Coran cheered, "Yes number three. Just like that!"

The drones shot at Hunk yet again and Lance moved in front of him when he saw that Hunk wasn't using his shield, "Hunk, buddy, your shield. Use your shield!"

Hunk lifted his shield as Shiro called out, "Everyone, back to back so that way we can protect each other."

They immediately backed up against each other, Lance keeping his eyes focused as he watched the drones. Coran called out, "Good. It's time to increase the intensity!"

Lance narrowed his eyes when the drones started swirling around them in a fast pace, leaving them a blur as they continued to shoot. They managed to keep everyone protected for about two minutes before Hunk ducked yet again on instinct, the shot hitting Pidge's back and she screamed when a hole opened beneath her and swallowed her up.

Hunk squeaked when he saw Pidge disappear, leaving him open to get hit and disappearing a second later from the hole that appeared underneath him. Lance let out a squawk of indignation when the drones lowered and moved his leg when a laser was shot at him. He regretted it a second later when he heard Keith yell as the void that appeared beneath his feet swallowed him up. Lance winced in guilt before he reached over, protecting Shiro from a barrage of lasers as best as he could before he got shot in the ass. Lance yelped when he was taken away, Shiro lasting only about five seconds before he too was shot and consumed by the hole.

They materialized back in the training room as Coran let out a loud groan in defeat, "Okay. That didn't work out well. Let's try something else. Number three, you stay there. Everyone else, get out of the way."

Lance sighed, pulling his helmet off his head to look around him. His team mates all walked off to the side and before he could see what else, a digital maze appeared around him blocking his view. Coran's voice reverberated in the room, "To form Voltron, you must put your trust in each other. This ancient paladin maze will teach you that trust."

Lance watched as the maze disappeared from his view and he listened to Coran as he explained further even though he knew the instructions, "Your teammates could see the maze but you cannot. So listen carefully, if you touch the walls you will get a slight shock. Now put on your helmet Lance."

Lance pulled the helmet over his head once again and he asked as he turned to the control room, "Wait who's guiding me through this mess?"

"Take two steps forward," Lance heard Keith's voice mutter softly in his ear and he pushed back the flush that he knew was creeping up his neck to his face. He forced himself to grumble, "Oh no, not Keith. Why does he get to be the man on the mic?"

"Just sit tight. You'll get your turn," Coran's voice echoed in his com before Keith instructed again, "Like I said. Take two steps forward, turn right and take three steps in that direction."

Lance exhaled before following Keith's instructions, taking two steps forward and then turning his body to face right and taking three steps.

Lance waited for further instructions as he listened to Keith's soft breathy voice in his ear, "Now turn right again and take one step and turn left."

Lance followed obediently and he didn't know how much time passed while he was in the maze until Coran cheered, "Well done Lance! Even with your hostility with Number four, you seem to put all your trust in him.

 _'Oh you have no idea,'_  Lance looked to the floor, a delicate smile appearing on his lips.

"That should be enough for now in the maze. How about we try flying the lions for this next exercise?" Coran asked as he dropped the maze so that none of them would run into it.

They all nodded and exited the training desk, heading in the direction of the lion's hangars. Lance didn't notice Keith running up to him until he felt a hand clasped on his shoulder. He tensed up slightly before he forced himself to relax when he realized who it was. He turned his head and looked over his shoulder with a quirk of his eyebrow, "Something I can help you with Mullet?"

"Uh, no, actually. I just wanted to say.. good job out there," Keith mumbled softly under his breath, dropping his hand from Lance's shoulder to walk beside the Cuban.

Lance turned his head back to face forward, looking at Keith from the corner of his eye as the red paladin continued, almost like he was trying to egg the other on, "I was actually surprised when you listened to my instructions without complaining besides the one in the beginning. You don't seem like the type to just listen to me."

"Look Mullet. I know we have this rivalry going on and you can't seem to stand me - trust me, the feeling is mutual - but that doesn't mean that I will jeopardize this team because of our rivalry. I will compete with you every step of the way in everything you do but in the end of the day," Lance turned to look at Keith with a bright and dazzling smile plastered on his face, "We're still a team and I'll always have your back. I trust you to have mine as well."

Lance reached over and patted Keith's back before he jogged ahead to catch up with Hunk who was talking to Pidge, pushing himself into the conversation. He ignored the gaze burning on his back or the blush that he knew was evident on his face if Hunk's knowing look was to get by,  _'I am in too deep.'_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry the semi-cliffhanger. It was getting too long and I thought it was appropriate to just cut in parts as well. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. 
> 
> If you guys have anything to say like suggestions or constructive criticism, I'd be more than willing to take it.
> 
> Don't forget to leave kudos, bookmark, subscribe and/or comment.
> 
> Don't feel shy if you have any questions regarding the story. If you see a plot hole or something that I didn't discuss properly, tell me and I'll try and make it clearer next time.
> 
> The updates might slow down a bit because I'm going to go back to my home country in just a few days and will be busy. I'll try to write whenever I can but I can not promise fast updates. Thank you for cooperating.
> 
> See you next chapter~! Stay tuned~


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Now the most important part of paladin training is being able to meld your minds and focus on one thing, Voltron. Everything else has to fade away."  
> \----  
> "Lance! Open your mind."
> 
> He opened his mind when he was able to finally focus on his Earth family but that didn't last for long, the image of his family disappeared. Lance panicked slightly when the image morphed into when Keith confessed to him.  
> \----  
> 'So much for team work. I didn't realize how hard it was going to be to interact with them.'  
> \----  
> "Hey, we will help you find your father and brother okay? You just have to trust us to help you whenever we can."
> 
> "Thanks Lance. I really needed that."
> 
> "No problem Pidgeon.”  
> \----  
> "Thanks for listening to me Blue. I can't talk with anybody else except you well at least until I get him back and I'm grateful that I have you even after the shit I went through to get here."
> 
> “What was he going on about?”  
> \----  
> “Your kick ruined our balance. We fell hard.”
> 
> “Like how you fell for me?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiya guys~ 
> 
> Okay I’m sorry for leaving the last chapter on a cliffhanger but I’m back! Any way, this might be my last chapter for a while because tomorrow early in the morning will be my flight to my home country. (I’m coming for you Philippines) 
> 
> I will write a few chapters today and tomorrow during my flight. I’ll try and post the next chapters when I settle in Philippines. :) Although I can’t really promise anything because internet in the Philippines is so slow af.
> 
> Anyway, enjoy of my ranting. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

_"Look Mullet. I know we have this rivalry going on and you can't seem to stand me - trust me, the feeling is mutual - but that doesn't mean that I will jeopardize this team because of our rivalry. I will compete with you every step of the way in everything you do but in the end of the day," Lance turned to look at Keith with a bright and dazzling smile plastered on his face, "We're still a team and I'll always have your back. I trust you to have mine as well."_

_Lance reached over and patted Keith's back before he jogged ahead to catch up with Hunk who was talking to Pidge, pushing himself into the conversation. He ignored the gaze burning on his back or the blush that he knew was evident on his face if Hunk's knowing look was to get by, 'I am in too deep.'_

\----

The team split up and went to their respective lion's hangars. Blue purred when she saw Lance walk up to her, lowering her head to allow the ramp to open up for him to enter. Lance placed a hand on her fang and cooed softly, "Hey there girl. Sorry I didn't check up on you. I'll run a test on you once we manage to form Voltron okay?"

Blue let a low growl in agreement as he walked into her cockpit and took a seat, taking a hold of her handles and letting her fly out of the hangar where he met the others. They started flying high into the air as Coran's voice echoed in their coms, "You'll never be able to form Voltron unless each of you have a strong bond with your lions."

"No problem. Me and Blue are best buds for life. Isn't that right beautiful?" Lance cooed as he looked around Blue's cockpit who purred loudly in response.

"Perfect. You won't have any issues with this exercise then. Everyone, put your lions into a nose dive!" Coran instructed enthusiastically.

Lance shifted Blue's controls, making her arch before letting her dive down towards the ground head first as Coran spoke, "This is an expert level drill that you really shouldn't be attempting until you've been flying for years but, uh, we're in a bit of a rush so here we go! Activating training helmets!"

Lance's sight was instantly removed and he felt all his other senses increasing from the lack of one of his main senses. Hunk screeched, panic flooding in his voice, "Coran! What's happening? I can't see!"

"You must learn to see through your lion's eyes. The goal is to pull up right before you crash into the ground. Feel what the lion feels," Coran directed.

Lance took a steady breath in, reaching into his mind for his connection with his lion. Once he was connected, Blue purred softly as she let him into her mind, allowing him to see through her yellow eyes. His vision seemed slightly fuzzy on the sides but he was able to see clearly so that was all that mattered to him. He noticed that he still had a long way to go before he reached the ground and he barely registered Hunk's scream of panic, "Mine feels scared!"

He heard Hunk pull away and Yellow's low growl of displeasure at being pulled away before he decided to tease Keith, still maintaining his connection with Blue, "You still going Keith?"

"You know it," Lance's face started to heat up from the familiar challenging tone in Keith's voice as the red paladin mocked, "You?"

Lance smirked, shifting Blue's controls as he exclaimed, "Going? I'm speeding up!"

Blue let out a series of small growls, almost sounding like laughter to the Cuban as he saw that they were reaching the ground at a fast rate, "We must be getting close."

"Must be," Keith replied back shortly.

Lance chuckled as he teased, getting a kick out of provoking his husband, "You getting scared?"

"I'm not scared!"

Lance quickly pulled on Blue's controls and pushed on her pedal when he saw that he was about to crash into the sand, pulling up slightly to hover over the ground and allowing Blue to land on all fours softly. He heard Keith crash roughly into the ground and he winced before calling out worriedly, "You okay Mullet? That sounded like a hard crash."

The only reply he got back was a muffled groan of pain and he turned Blue to face where the crash was to see half of Red buried into the sand. Coran's voice echoed in his com, "Excellent Lance! I'm surprised you were able to do this exercise even with you challenging Number four."

Lance chuckled to himself before he pulled on Blue's handles and said, "Okay girl. Let's help Keith and Red out of there. Heaven knows how much hot sand he's swallowing from being buried there."

He pushed on the pedal yet again, forcing Blue to fly before hovering over to Red where she wrapped her metallic claws around the other mechanical cat. Lance pulled to tug on Red until the lion was out of the ground and he called out, "Hey there boy. Sorry about Keith. Let's get you two back to the castle so that you can rest up and clean yourself out."

Red let out a small growl in appreciation and he directed Blue towards the castle, ignoring Coran who was congratulating Shiro as he saw the black lion flying around. Lance continued to stay connected to Blue due to the training helmets still being on before he flew Red to his hangar, allowing the red lion to relax before leaving and heading to his lion's hangar.

He parked Blue before activating his com, "Keith, you okay there buddy?"

"Peachy," Keith wheezed out through the com and Lance regretted challenging his husband just to get a rise out of him.

"Sorry man. I didn't know that you weren't connected with your lion. I just assumed you were since you took on my challenge. I should have told you to pull up."

Keith grumbled, their helmets returning back to normal when they stepped out of their lions. They all headed back to the training deck where Coran was waiting for them, his arms at his back. The Altean sighed before saying as he crossed his arms over his chest, "Only Shiro and Lance were able to connect to their lions. I expected Shiro to be able to do it because of his age but Lance? That was very surprising to put it bluntly."

"What do you meant by that?" Lance screeched, a tick mark appearing at his temple from the offending remark as Hunk tried to calm him down.

Coran shrugged and said as he eyed the Cuban critically, "Anyone would assume that you wouldn't be able to do it due to your outward appearance. I'm actually very good at reading people but you... you, I can't read. It's like you're hiding something."

Lance tensed up before he shrugged, not giving a clear answer. Coran continued to eye him before he looked away and said as he scanned the other paladins, "I have one more exercise for you all. Follow me."

Coran motioned for them and they all headed to the middle of the training deck before Coran gestured to them to take a seat. Lance sat down heavily, feeling sweat drip down the back of his neck when he realized that it was the mind melding exercise. Coran started handing out the mind reading gadgets and said as he walked back to the control room, "Now the most important part of paladin training is being able to meld your minds and focus on one thing, Voltron. Everything else has to fade away."

Lance kept his eyes open as he looked at the others. Keith was thinking about his shack back on Earth, Hunk was drooling over the thought of Earth cuisine, Pidge's thoughts were static but Lance could see the image of her and Matt, and lastly Shiro was thinking of the ship he rode during the Kerberos mission. Lance was staying at Keith's image when Coran called out, "Lance! Open your mind."

Lance snapped out of his daze, taking a shaky deep breath as he tried to relax. His thoughts appearing as black static and Hunk peeked over to Lance and asked, "Lance, are you okay?"

"I-I'm fine Hunk," Lance mumbled softly, his eyes glancing over to Keith before he tried to think of his family back on Earth. He opened his mind when he was able to finally focus on his Earth family but that didn't last for long, the image of his family disappeared. Lance panicked slightly when the image morphed into when Keith confessed to him. He tried to morph the image back but for some reason he couldn't let his mind drift off to another thing. He watched in fear as the memory played out, the others watching it with curiosity evident. He quickly forced the memory to blur out anything that would be out of the ordinary, just as the background and Keith's figure. He also distorted Keith's voice to make it less obvious.

_They were in the training deck of Lotor's ship and they were engaged in a hand-to-hand fight. Lance threw a right hook at Keith but the other male dodged quickly before throwing his own punch. Lance moved out of the way before kicking his leg up, his foot connecting with Keith's stomach. Keith let out a sound of pain, doubling over and Lance started to worry. His worry didn't last for long when he saw Keith charging at him and before Lance could react, Keith had pinned him to the ground, the Cuban had his hands held in Keith’s right hand and they were held above his head._

_Lance struggled slightly, thrusting his hips to try and topple the shorter male off him except Keith had a firm hold, a smirk dancing on his handsome face. Lance stopped, tired before he looked at the male hovering over him with a glare._

_“That’s cheating.” Lance pouted and Keith threw his head back in laughter._

_“Oh suck it up. You’re just upset I beat you. AGAIN.” Keith quirked an eyebrow down at his team mate._

_Lance was about to speak up when he took notice of their position. His tan face started to flush and Keith looked confused, “Lance? Something wrong? Your face is looking flushed.”_

_“I-I..uh.. Can you get off me please?” Lance squeaked out, panicking slightly._

_Keith blinked before he looked down to where their bodies were connected. Keith was straddling Lance’s hips and was using his weight to pin down the taller male to the ground of the training deck. Keith finally realized what was going on and his eyes flittered up to look at Lance who was still flushed._

_Keith chuckled before he lowered his head, keeping his face only a few inches apart from Lance’s to allow his breath to fan against Lance’s face, “Something bothering you, pretty boy?”_

_Lance squeaked and trashed underneath the smirking male, “----, dude, seriously. I’m not kidding around.”_

_“I’m not either,” Keith whispered huskily, his eyes hooded as he stared down at Lance with his pupils blown._

_Lance bit his bottom lip before gulping and mumbled as he looked away, “Please ----. I don’t want to do anything that will make you hate me again.”_

_Lance‘s blue eyes fluttered back to look at the pale male when Keith chuckled breathily, "Then it’s a good thing I won’t hate you for it.”_

_Before Lance could say anything else or protest, Keith surged down and clashed their lips together in a heated kiss. Lance closed his eyes and hummed into the kiss, a small smile tugging on both of their lips before Keith let Lance’s hands loose. Keith trailed down his hand down Lance’s neck to cup his jawline softly before Lance nibbled softly on the other male’s lip causing Keith to let out a breathy moan._

_Keith pulled away and Lance slowly pushed them up so that Keith was seated on his lap. Lance placed his forehead against Keith’s and smiled brightly, his blue eyes sparkling even with his pupils dilated._

_“I love you Lance McClain. I loved you ever since I laid eyes on you in the Galaxy Garrison but I was too afraid to say anything or even approach you.”_

_Lance lifted a hand and cupped one of Keith’s cheek softly as he made the other look at him, “I love you too ---- ----.”_

_Keith blushed slightly before Lance leaned in to push their lips together in a soft and chaste kiss._

Although Lance was frightened about the questions he knew were swirling in his team mate's minds, he felt a smile tugging on his lips as he watched the memory play out. He shook his head frantically before forcing his mind to focus on his lion. He ignored the others' curiosity to who the other person was in his memory and he felt the almost unnoticeable tinge of jealousy from Keith. They all got their lions to float in front of them before pushing them to the middle, the only one not being able to was Pidge who was struggling on thinking of anything except her brother.

"Pidge! Stop thinking about your girlfriend!" Keith snapped, his eyes blazing with hidden jealousy.

Pidge growled back, "I wasn't! Hunk was running around in my head."

"What? I thought we were open. We all watched Lance getting kissed by that unknown person in his memories. You could look in my head hole too," Hunk complained and Lance stifled a sigh at being mentioned.

Coran's voice interrupted any argument that was about to happen, "Everyone should be able to look at everybody's head hole. Clear your minds!"

They all closed their eyes again, forcing the image of their lion to float in front of them before pushing it forward to combine in the middle. Before Voltron could complete, Pidge's lion disappeared in static only to be replaced by the static image of her and Matt. Lance sighed before he tried to ease the distressed girl, "Pidge--"

"Ugh! I'm done with this!" Pidge screeched as she stood up, removing the head set off and throwing it to the ground roughly, "I don't like the idea of everyone rubbing around my head and seeing what I'm thinking."

"Oh come on Pidge. We almost had it," Shiro tried to reason with Pidge who only deflated and she mumbled softly, "I'm.. I'm just--I'm just tired okay?"

Shiro frowned before he sighed and looked at the others around him who were watching the spectacle, "Okay, let's take a breather for now."

As soon as Shiro finished, Coran entered the training deck with a couple of water pouches in hand. The other paladins removed the head set and placed it aside as Coran handed them the pouches. Lance smiled thankfully, taking the one handed to him as he took a sip. He leaned back, sprawling himself out on the ground.

He sighed happily as he thought back to his husband, a goofy grin playing on his lips before he forcibly shook himself out of it when he heard the training deck's door open. He muffled another sigh - this one being of annoyance and tiredness - when Allura's furious voice reached his ears, "What are you all doing?! This is no time to be taking a break. Get up you lazy lumps!"

"C-Calm down Princes. You can't push too hard," Coran tried to reason with the princess who only shot a glare at her official guardian.

"Can't push too hard? Zarkon is still out there and you're telling me that? Get! Up! It's time you faced the gladiator."

Lance sighed before getting up, tuning out the complains of the other paladins as he forced his bayard out of its containment unit. He willed it to form into his blaster as he muttered, "Whatever you want Empress."

He was too annoyed and tired to care that he was flirting with Allura using her future title. He didn't even care that his teammates were staring at him confused when he uttered the title. The others, except Shiro, took out their bayards as well and activated them. Coran and Allura walked off to the side as Coran spoke, "In order to defeat the gladiator, the paladins of Voltron must work as a team to bring it down."

Lance tensed up when he heard the gladiator fall from the ceiling and land on the ground with a small 'thump.' The robot headed straight for Hunk who tried shooting at it but failed when it dodged, the blasts heading straight for Keith who blocked them with his shield. Lance twitched, his eyes darting from his team to the gladiator as he tried to come up with a quick plan of action. He was pulled out of his thoughts when he heard Pidge and Hunk's grunts of pain as the gladiator trashed them around the room.

He positioned his blaster before shooting at the approaching robot. He stepped back when the gladiator got too close, it swinging its stage at Lance who quickly did a back flip out of the way. He saw Keith running towards it from the corner of his eye and he forced himself to get closer to it, making sure to keep its attention on him so it wouldn't notice Keith.

Lance let out a grunt when the gladiator used his staff to disarm him, tossing his bayard a good few feet away from him and he let out a small scream when he got electrocuted by said staff, stunning him. He was suddenly dragged by the staff and sent barreling towards Keith who let out a grunt when they collided with one another. Keith saw Shiro in trouble, quickly pushing Lance off and went off to help Shiro who froze up. Lance just let out a small sigh, staring at the ceiling as he heard the gladiator trashing the two most experienced fighters, _'So much for team work. I didn't realize how hard it was going to be to interact with them.'_

"That gladiator was set at a level fit for an Altean **child**. You're not close to working as a team much less ready to face against Zarkon," Lance heard Allura growling and he sighed yet again, forcing himself to move even with the after shocks of the staff.

He staggered to his feet, stumbling slightly to regain his balance as he mumbled, "Sorry Princess. We're just.. tired."

He didn't wait for a reply from the Altean heir as he turned on his heel, ignoring the random twitching his body was doing as he headed towards the exit. He only halted when Coran called out after him, "Ah! I'm going to have to stop you right there Number three. Why don't you all head to the dining room while I make you all something to eat?"

Lance felt a small smile dancing on his lips when he recalled what was about to come and he shrugged, "Sure, why not?"

Lance turned in the direction heading to the dining hall and trudged, listening to the groans and grunts of pain coming from the others walking behind him. He shook his head fondly as they made their way to the table, taking their respective seats. Shiro sat at the right side of the head of the table, Hunk beside him, followed by Lance and Keith and finally Pidge.

He sighed as he rested his arms against the table's surface, folding them against each other before burying his face into them. He felt Hunk's large hand patting softly as if trying to console the other while Shiro sighed out, "Don't worry team. We'll get it soon."

"Hopefully we can get it soon. We don't have much time until that Robobeast and Sendak come after our asses," Lance mumbled under his breath, his words muffled by his arms.

"What did you say cargo pilot?" Keith asked, his tone tired but mocking.

Lance lifted his head and shot a glare at his husband before growling, not used to the way Keith was, "I said maybe we would be able to form Voltron if you took that long stick out of your ass long enough to work with the rest of us."

"Stow it cadets!" Shiro growled, his voice sounding tired with a hint of annoyance as Lance slumped back into his arms and grumbled incoherently.

He sighed as he mused to himself, not listening to the mindless chatter that was happening around him, _'Everything else aside, how am I going to get Allura to stop hating the Galra race? She's so stubborn. She only started being okay with them when Keith revealed he too was Galra. Do I let everything lead up to Ulaz? But I don't want him to commit suicide to save us. Wait, the only reason he did get killed was because of that Robobeast. That beast won't be able to find us if Shiro has a strong bond and connection with his lion.'_

 _'Could my bond with Black overcome Zarkon's bond with him?'_ Lance frowned but shook his head mentally, _'No, Shiro has to be able to do it. He needs to prove himself to his lion. They all do. Maybe I can tip off to Allura that Zarkon could track us through the black lion once the first or so Robobeast makes contact with us. Maybe I'll ask after the Balmera.'_

Lance lifted his head when he heard Coran's cheery voice, "Ahoy young paladins! I've whipped up a big batch of focusing food. After this, you'll be forming Voltron six times a movement!"

He straightened up as he looked at the green food goo in front of him as Shiro thanked the Altean, "Smells great Coran. Thank you."

Lance reached for his spoon when he saw Coran whip out a remote hidden behind his back and clicked on the button. In an instant, hand cuffs were attached to his wrists before they pulled his hands to attach to both Keith and Hunk causing him to drop the utensil he picked up. Lance let out a small groan before he huffed out, looking over to the smug looking Coran, "Coran--"

"I saw a lot of amazing individual performances out there but you all still struggle to work as a team. So welcome to the last bonding exercise of the day!" Coran smirked while the paladins looked at each other in pain and defeat. They all tried to reach for their utensils only to fail when the cuffs pulled them back to the other pair attached to them. Hunk looked over to Coran and said bluntly, "Coran. I want you to think about what you're doing."

"Oh, this one is a classic! You get to feed each other! Like a pack of yelmores," Coran cheered excitedly, his excitement obvious in his eyes. Shiro looked at his lap in defeat while Hunk stared at Lance with a mildly upset look who only stared at the large man with a blank look on his face. Lance could hear Keith and Pidge growling at each other from behind him and he resisted the urge to sigh. He watched as Allura entered the dining hall, changed out of her paladin armor into her normal dress as Hunk pulled on his hand, _'Well this sucks ass.'_

He pulled on his other hand and he heard a squelching noise. He blinked and turned his gaze from Hunk to his plate to see Keith's hand buried in the goo. He sighed before he said blankly, "Thanks Mullet head. You defiled my food goo."

"That was your fault!"

"Hunk, stop tugging on my hand."

"Pidge!"

"Don't yell at the child Keith!"

"I'm not a child Hunk!"

"Guys."

Lance sighed as he risked a glimpse in Allura's direction to see the princess with her eyes shut, a vein almost visible on her temple as she fed herself angrily. Food goo was tossed weakly in her direction, falling around her plate before she got sick of it, "Do Earthlings ever stop complaining?"

"Look Princess. We're all so tried. We've been training hard enough. Can't you just give us a break?" Shiro pleaded with the Altean princess. Lance saw Keith stand up from his peripheral vision before the hot-tempered male growled, "Yea! We're not some prisoners that you could toy with like... like--"

"Like a bunch of toy prisoners!" Lance provided helpful, lifting his hands in emphasis.

Keith looked over to Lance before forcing out weakly, "Yes! Thank you Lance."

"Gah! Excuse you! You do **not** yell at the princess!" Coran yelled, a bit of spit flying out of his mouth at his anger.

"Uh, the princess of what?! We're the only ones out here and she sure isn't some prissy princess of ours," Pidge huffed and Lance saw Allura scoop up some of the food goo from her plate before flinging it at Pidge where it took perfect aim.

Everyone got quiet as the goo trailed down Pidge's hair and face and down her onto her lap. Lance could practically hear a pin drop until Keith growled, "Go loose Pidge!"

The red paladin picked up his plate of goo before chucking it at the princess. Allura let out a squeak of surprise ready for the impact only for Coran to move in front of her, blocking the incoming attack with the white towel he had on hand before he flung a ladle of goo all over them.

Lance felt the green goo trail down his chin and down his chest plate before Hunk shook the goo that was on his head off like a dog. The large man announced, his voice sounding challenging as he eyed the two Alteans, "Oh now it's on."

Lance watched in amusement as Hunk practically slammed his face into his plate of goo before lifting his head and using both hands to smash his cheeks together to spew the goo at Allura and Cora. Lance felt a smirk crawl on his lips as he watched the two Alteans shake off the goo before his overall stance changed when he saw the two pick up the plates of food goo on the table.

Lance stood up, taking hold of plate and ducking when he saw goo aimed at him. He laughed when he saw Keith get the blunt of the attack before he, along with the help of Hunk, hurled a plate full of goo at Allura and Coran who ducked behind the chairs. He felt his heart warm up when he heard Keith's laughter ringing in his ear that he didn't see the goo that was aimed at his face until it was dripping down to the floor from his face.

Lance saw that Hunk loaded his mouth with food goo again and he shared a quick look with Shiro, communicating with the older male as they simultaneously pushed against Hunk's cheeks to dispel the space goo at Coran and Allura.

Lance wasn't sure how long the food fight went on until he saw Allura panting, backing up to sit heavily on the chair located behind her. Lance shot a look at Hunk who only stared at him with curiosity glinting in his eyes before they all burst into fits of laughter.

Lance felt his cheeks flush and his eyes tear up slightly when he caught a glimpse of the team he once had. His happiness wasn't deterred in the slightest even when Allura yelled, " **ENOUGH!** Do you see what you're doing?"

The Cuban glanced over to the princess to see her head lowered before she lifted it up to reveal a bright expression on her face, "You're finally working together--like an actual team!"

"Hey, she's right," Lance turned to look at Keith who spoke, meeting the tan male's eyes with a bright smile on his normally brooding face. Lance felt his eyes widen slightly, knowing that his already flushed face was turning redder at seeing Keith's smile directed at him.

Lance ignored the racing of his heart that he could hear in his ears as he started almost shyly, "I...actually don't hate you right now."

Lance tried not to think much of how his statement was met with Keith's eyes sparkling with what he knew was hope and delight.

"You guys thinking what I'm thinking?" Hunk exclaimed as he nudged Lance who broke eye contact with his husband, mostly to save his pounding heart that he was almost certain the others could hear. Shiro announced happily, "Let's go form Voltron!"

The whole team cheered and Lance tried not to allow the tears that gathered in his eyes to be noticeable as Hunk said with a slight pout, "I was actually thinking about dessert but let's go do that too!"

Hunk stepped back slightly, slipping on the space goo that was on the ground and dragged the whole team and some of the chairs down with him to the ground. Lance cracked open his eyes and he caught a glimpse of fondness on Allura and Coran's faces. Coran pulled out the remote from behind his back and pushed the button yet again. The cuffs that locked the paladins together were powered off and fell to the ground, barely making a sound.

Lance rubbed at his wrists before they all shared a glance with each other, communicating through that one look. They got up before rushing to the control room where the chutes leading to their lions were. Lance got in, his heart pounding all the way to his lion and he heard Shiro's voice over his com, "You guys ready for this?"

The others all called out their agreements before Shiro commanded, "Then let's form Voltron!"

Lance pulled Blue's handles towards him and pushed on her pedal, allowing her to fly out of her hangar. When he was out in the open and in the air, he felt the familiar tugging on his lion as they were pulled together.

Lance couldn't stop the bright smile that was appearing on his lips as he looked out of Blue's eyes, seeing Coran and Allura staring proudly up at them, _'You know what? I think I can actually pull this off.'_

\----

"Man that was great! I'm so charged up, I don't think I'll be able to sleep tonight!" Lance bounced excitedly in place from his seat on the couch.

He looked over at Keith who chuckled and the sword wielding paladin quirked a flirtatious eyebrow at Lance, "Not me. When my head hits that pillow, I'll be lights out."

"Hey. I just wanted you all to know that when we form Voltron, we're like brothers!" Hunk exclaimed happily, getting in between Lance and Keith before wrapping one arm around the two and pulling them close to him, "You know we're like totally connected. No secrets, no barriers, no nothing. I just love you guys."

"Geez, did G-force mess with your head a little bit or something Hunk?" Keith joked as he nudged Hunk in the side who only shrugged in response.

Lance watched as Shiro stood up from his place beside Pidge. Hunk and Keith also decided to stand up, leaving their places on the couch. Lance decided to stay behind, glancing over at Pidge as Shiro asked, "Going to bed Pidge? Lance?"

"In a minute," Pidge answered softly and Lance shrugged his shoulders, "I'm going to check up on Blue before I head to bed."

Shiro smiled, his eyes softening as he studied Pidge, "Good work out there. We're really coming together as a team."

He turned on his heel before leaving the lounging area. Pidge pulled out a picture from her pocket and even without looking, Lance already knew the picture contained her and Matt. Lance eyed Pidge before speaking up when he was certain the others weren't around to hear, "You really shouldn't worry so much Pidge."

"I have no idea what you're talking about Lance," Pidge huffed, stuffing the picture back into her pocket as she shifted her eyes to look at her feet.

Lance let his blue eyes soften, "Hey, we will help you find your father and brother okay? You just have to trust us to help you whenever we can."

Pidge stayed silent, her eyes still plastered at her feet before Lance gestured to the doors, "You should head to bed and get some shut eye. The sooner Allura and Coran get this castle up and out of Arus, the sooner we'll be able to find your family."

Pidge nodded slowly and stood up, Lance watching her as she turned to face him with a grateful smile on her face, "Thanks Lance. I really needed that."

"No problem Pidgeon," Lance chuckled and he heard Pidge puffed out an annoyed sounding breath at the nickname. She turned around quickly but he still caught the flash of the smile tugging on her lips as she waved at him, "I'll see you tomorrow. You should probably head to bed as well for your beauty sleep."

Lance scoffed at her emphasis on the last two words before bidding her good night, watching as she retreated in the direction of her room with the space mice following after her. He tossed his head back, covering his eyes with his forearm, "I should go check up on Blue before heading to bed."

\----

"There you go beautiful. You didn't take that much damage when Allura targeted us with the castle," Lance said happily as he stood in front of Blue who was resting her head on her front paws. Blue let out a small thrum happily as Lance reached out to touch her cool metallic muzzle, "Sorry that I didn't check up on you sooner. I was spending time with the others so that we could strengthen our bonds when if just by a little."

Blue purred, the statement making her buzz with happiness and Lance chuckled as he walked over to her metallic paw, "Yea. I'm really happy that we're getting somewhere with the team."

Lance climbed up Blue's claw, sitting against the cool surface and bringing one knee up to his chest while his other leg was stretched out in front of him, "Hey Blue, do you think I can actually pull this off? I know I was saying time and time again that I could but I feel like.. I just feel like I can't you know?"

Blue thrummed in response and Lance chuckled, "Of course you would think that. I'm your paladin."

She growled loudly, the vibrations almost echoing in the large open space of her hangar from her obvious displeasure that her paladin was looking down on himself. Lance shook his head fondly and said as he patted the surface he was seated on, "I know, I know. You don't have to get so upset over that. I know that they put their trust in me. I should respect their decision and I should be flattered. It's just hard to think that i was chosen for this. Me? Out of all the others that were a better option. I know that we didn't really have anything to look forward to especially since I lost... him but I didn't want to leave behind any of the others."

Lance sighed, placing his cheek against his knee, "The sacrifices I made to save Earth... to save my friends and family, to save everyone is such a heavy burden to bear. I literally have no one to talk to because I can't tell the others and I can only talk about this with you."

Blue let out a small hum and Lance chuckled, "Yea, I know that they are here for me as well but I don't think the others will appreciate me getting so close to their lions."

The mechanical cat let out a series of short pulses and Lance rolled his eyes, "Very funny. Laugh all you want. They would use their weapons on me the moment I decide to try and communicate with the other lions much less try and bond with them."

"I should probably retreat to my bedroom," Lance suggested as he stood up, reaching over and patting Blue's jaw, "I'll visit you tomorrow bright and early. Tomorrow, we'll have more training as Voltron and I want to spend time with you to let loose before I'm forced to hide how I'm feeling from the others when we form Voltron."

Blue lifted her head off her paws and Lance jumped down her paw, staring up at the mechanical blue lion as she lifted up her particle barrier, "Thanks for listening to me Blue. I can't talk with anybody else except you well at least until I get him back and I'm grateful that I have you even after the shit I went through to get here."

Behind Lance at the entrance of the hangar, a flash of red disappeared around the corner just as soon as Lance turned. Lance strolled out of the hangar, the door sliding shut behind him as he headed towards his room. He let out a small yawn as he rubbed at his nape sleepily.

Once Lance turned the corner and was out of sight, a shadow emerged from behind a pillar and Keith was seen with a suspicious expression on his face. He crossed his arms over his broad chest, turning to look at the door of the blue lion's hangar before turning back to look at where Lance disappeared, "What was he going on about?"

\----

"Great job training today guys!" Shiro praised the other three paladins who walked at his side, Pidge having headed straight for the healing bay the minute they decided to take a break. Lance had his arms crossed behind his head, a goofy grin on his face as Shiro let a small soft smile appear on his lips, "We're really getting the hang of Voltron."

"Man, that feels great. The rush and the adrenaline really kicks in," Lance sighed happily, his eyes glazing over as he recalled his time with his team from the future.

He stopped in the middle of his walking and he noticed Keith stopped as well, an almost suspicious glare on the latter's face, "Like the failed attempt of your kick during our training?"

"Very funny Keith," Lance huffed as he retracted his arms from behind his head to cross over his chest, "Jealous that I'm just so awesome?"

"That kick you did will only be helpful against the Galra if they decide to challenge us to a soccer match," Keith raised an eyebrow, mocking the blue paladin and Lance just frowned, "Hey, I did something cool and you just can't handle it. I get it."

Lance turned to face Keith, placing his hands on his hips and Keith scowled, "Your kick ruined our balance. We fell hard."

Keith turned away from Lance and walked towards the table. Lance rolled his eyes as he followed after his future husband, deciding to tease the other male, "Like how you fell for me?"

Lance got a kick out of seeing Keith's shoulders tense up, his face turning pink as he started spluttering frantically. Lance let a smirk appear on his lips before he continued, not trying to chuckle at the look of fear on Keith's face, "Joking. Besides, the falling part was Hunk's fault."

"Hey!"

"Alright! Knock it off! Save your energy for when we fight Zarkon," Shiro removed his helmet off his head, the others following his example. Lance strolled over to Hunk, standing behind the chair the large man was seated and Keith followed his example as he stuck to the other paladin's side. The pilot of the blue lion could see that Keith was still tensed up from his flirty comment but didn't point it out in case he angered the other.

Lance leaned an arm against the back of Hunk's chair, turning his head over to the door that hissed open to see Coran walk in, holding a platter that was covered, "Hello guys. How was the Voltron workout?"

"We're getting the hang of it. Are you and Allura almost finished working on the castle so that we could leave this planet? I feel like we're sitting ducks while we're stuck here on Arus," Shiro commented, his eyebrows furrowing slightly as he stared at the older Altean.

"Almost. In the mean time to get your minds off being sitting ducks, I made you guys an authentic paladin lunch!" Hunk gasped in excitement before Coran pulled the cover off to reveal what looked like a ball with orifices spilling yellow pus.

Lance's eyes twitched at the smell, moving away slightly from the sight and smell as Hunk spoke, "Coran, you just got me hooked on that space goo and now you're switching it up?"

"This is packed with nutrients," Hunk looked hesitant before leaning forward to take a whiff of the contents of the plate and flinched back.

"It smells disgusting."

"I know. That's how you know something is healthy," Lance rolled his eyes at the statement, deciding to take a seat as far away as possible from the foul smelling Altean food. He slumped heavily into his chair and Keith took the place at his left side, both of them placing their helmets on the table.

Lance pulled his helmet towards him as he tuned out the conversation that was happening around him. He only looked up from his fiddling when he heard Shiro get up to check up on Pidge.

Lance called Shiro's attention to him as he turned his eyes back to his blue helmet, "Shiro, tell Pidge that he shouldn't be so reckless and stubborn."

Shiro made a noise of acknowledgement that had a small hint of confusion at his wording but Lance barely took notice over his tinkering with the visor of his helmet. He felt the burning gaze on the side of his face from Keith's grey-violet eyes and without looking up, he teased, "See something you like Keith?"

Even without looking at the other, Lance could feel the embarrassment rolling off of the half-Galran's body and he pushed away the urge that wanted to smirk. He pushed the side of the helmet, accidentally shocking himself and he flinched back from the sudden twinge of pain, "The heck, man. That is not cool. I hate dealing with these tech stuff."

"Then stop meddling with something you're not supposed to be meddling with," Keith huffed angrily, looking away from Lance to hide his obviously flustered face. Lance shrugged as he looked over to where Coran was happily eating the lunch he prepared, "Hey Coran, can the castle only activate our training helmets or can we activate it ourselves from the helmet?"

"You could activate it yourself of course," Coran mumbled through a mouthful of his food and Lance's fingers twitched in disgust as Coran swallowed roughly, "But you can only activate it when you're in your lions. There should be a button on your lion that will be able to activate it. Why? Is something the matter?"

Lance shrugged, "Not really. I was just curious. I was hoping that there would be a button on the helmet to activate it. I want to be able to rely on my hearing and smell if my sight ever gets taken away."

Before Coran could say anything else, Hunk entered the dining hall carrying a tray that had a couple of bowls resting on it. The yellow paladin laid out the bowls in front of the red and blue paladins and Lance's eyes started sparkling happily, "You are the absolute best Hunk."

The two paladins started to reach out for the food and chomping on the food happily, Lance not hearing Allura enter the room until she spoke up, "They sure like the paladin lunch."

Lance stifled a giggle when he heard Coran grumble under his breath. Allura spoke up yet again, "I just got the last Nebulan booster working. We should be able to leave Planet Arus tomorrow and take the fight to Zarkon."

The castle alarms started blaring out just as soon as she finished speaking and Lance stood up, sucking in the noodles that were dangling out of his lips. Allura swiped her hand against the air and a screen appeared above them near the door. Lance relaxed when he realized what was happening, seeing the small Arusian hiding behind a stone as Keith exclaim, "What is that?!"

"I have no idea what it is. Maybe it's just a local Arusian," Allura stated, eyeing the screen critically and Lance just watched as it approached the castle in a very cute manner. He resisted the urge to coo at it as the princess mumbled, "He's approaching the castle."

Hunk let out a cooing sound at the Arusian and Lance felt the corner of his lips twitch upward, "He doesn't look that dangerous."

"You never know," Lance turned to look at his significant other who summoned his bayard, only to be stopped instantly by Allura.

"No. Alteans believe in peace first. Let's go welcome them."

Allura turned on her heel and walked off with Hunk and Coran following after the princess. Lance turned to look at Keith and tried to ease the obviously agitated paladin, "Calm down Mullet. If you are right about this thing being dangerous, we will allow you to scold us for not listening to you but for now, put your bayard away and join us in greeting them. You may never know, they may be friendly."

Keith looked uncertain before he stored bayard back in its containment unit. Lance let a grin appear on his lips before he motioned for the other to follow him to the entrance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter. I sure as hell enjoyed writing it. 
> 
> Anyway, give kudos, bookmark, subscribe to the story, and/or comment to give your support. 
> 
> If you have any questions regarding the story, feel free to ask in the comment section. 
> 
> I will try and answer it as best as possible without giving out potential spoilers. 
> 
> ALSO! I UPDATED THIS CHAPTER BECAUSE SOMEONE POINTED OUT THAT I COPIED SOMETHING OFF OF SOMEONE. IT WAS NOT MY INTENTION!! I’M SO SORRY! I CHANGED THE CONFESSION SCENE SO GO READ IT IF YOU WANT BECAUSE IT WILL COME UP AGAIN SOON.
> 
> If you have a suggestion, don’t feel shy to comment about it. If I decide to use your idea, I will shout out to you and/or credit you for helping :)
> 
> I might not be able to post every day or so since I'm going to go to Philippines and then leave for Japan (vacay for about three days) before going back to Philippines. I will continue writing when I don't have wifi but I can't guarantee posting it as soon as I am done with the chapter because I might not have decent enough wifi to post it.
> 
> But stay tuned for the next chapter~


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Look buddy. I know you’re paranoid but you have to relax a bit. I mean, sure you can be on alert but try and relax here. We don’t want to frighten the Arusians right? Hey, don’t worry. If anything goes wrong, you can count on Lancey Lance to protect you.”  
> \----  
> “I thought Voltron was supposed to here most powerful weapon in the universe!”
> 
> “Yea! So how is this monster kicking our butts?!”  
> \----  
> “That sound... I remember this monster from my time in Zarkon’s prison!”  
> \----  
> ‘I’m coming for you Sendak and when I do, you’ll regret ever messing with my family.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys~ Sorry for the long wait. I was traveling all over the place and I was also so jet lag. I didn’t have enough time to write and well, I kind of lost inspiration for this chapter after traveling everywhere so it isn’t my best work. I apologize for that. I promise to make up for how shit this chapter is in the next chapter. I promise. 
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoy reading it however and keep in mind that this isn’t my best chapter, so please don’t kill me in the comments.
> 
> Also, grammar mistakes. I will come back and edit it when I have internet. Just point it out to me and I will edit it.

_Lance turned to look at Keith and tried to ease the obviously agitated paladin, "Calm down Mullet. If you are right about this thing being dangerous, we will allow you to scold us for not listening to you but for now, put your bayard away and join us in greeting them. You may never know, they may be friendly."_

_Keith looked uncertain before he stored bayard back in its containment unit. Lance let a grin appear on his lips before he motioned for the other to follow him to the entrance._

\----

Lance and Keith quickly caught up with the others just as soon as the doors leading to the castle opened. Lance saw the little Arusian rush in and hide inside a bush near the castle and he shook his head fondly. They all approached the bush and Allura spoke up, placing her hands on her knees to lean in, "Greetings. We know you're there. No harm will come to you."

The Arusian jumped out, brandishing his small sword and Hunk cooed. Lance saw Keith going to move in and held an arm out to the red paladin, staring him down, "Calm down Keith. We need to think about our move before doing anything."

Keith frowned but didn't move any further as Allura shot Lance a thankful look as she turned back to look at the Arusian, "Please kind sir. Accept my most humble apologies."

"I am Klyxap, bravest of our warriors. Our village is over Gazral Hill." Klyxap lowered his weapon as he introduced himself, looking up at the princess, "I come seeking answers as to why the lion goddess is angered with her followers."

"Followers?" Coran questioned, his hands on his hips as he looked at the small Arusian, "Lion goddess?"

Klyxap motioned to a stone he was standing next to, a carving of a large lion draped in a dress, "The one the ancients spoke of."

"What makes you think she's angered?" Lance asked, a tilt of his head with a disbelieving look on his face and he ignored the look Allura sent him.

"Destruction is everywhere. In the past few suns, fire has rained from the Heavens and a giant has danced in the sky." Klyxap spoke as he gestured wildly. Hunk leaned slightly on Lance's other side to whisper in his ear loudly, "I think he's talking about Voltron."

Lance just deadpanned, looking at his best friend with an exasperated look before shooting a look to Keith who was holding back a smirk. 

"You have not angered the lion goddess." Allura reassured the local Arusian who only frowned, "How can you be certain?"

"Because I am Allura, and this is my castle," Allura tilted her head to look up at the looming ship with a fond smile. 

Klyxap looked at the castle and looked back at Allura with his eyes wide before he bowed down before her, lowering down his weapon, "Lion goddess."

"Please bravest warrior. Take us to your village so that we can meet our neighbors." Allura requested softly and Keith asked as he turned to look at Allura with a scowl on his face, "What about our mission to get off this planet and fight Zarkon?"

"Part of the paladin's mission is to spread peace and diplomacy. Arus has been our host for ten thousand years. These people deserve our thanks." Allura looked at Keith before looking back at Klyxap who was kneeling, a bright smile on his face.

Lance reached over to Keith and patted his back as he teased, "Something you, as a paladin, lack. Peace and diplomacy. Can you even talk in events?"

Keith glared at the Cuban, nudging the blue paladin in the stomach roughly causing him to keel over from the sudden jab. Lance groaned as he lifted his head to shoot a weak glare at his husband, "Okay. That was not necessary."

"Your words weren't necessary," Keith scoffed with a small playful smirk on his lips.

Lance rolled his eyes before straightening up, one arm wrapped around his stomach to ease the small tinge of pain that was still evident as the paladins headed for their lion’s hangars. Allura and Coran decided to stay with Klyxap to keep him company while they get their lions.

Lance was whistling a small tune as he headed towards Blue. Blue let out a small growl, her happiness evident as she lowered her head to her paws. She purred softly, questioning her paladin into why he was back.

Lance pouted as he crossed his arms over his chest, staring up at the mechanical cat, “You wound me Blue. It’s like you don’t like seeing me.”

Blue let out a small thrum and Lance gasped in mock hurt, “Ouch. I thought you loved me Blue. I thought we were meant to be. Why must you hurt me like this?”

“Lance.” Keith’s voice cut through his com and Lance rolled his eyes fondly.

“What? I can’t talk to my beautiful girl?”

“Not when we have something that we need to do. Get your ass out here.” Keith scoffed and Lance smirked before he purred out, climbing into Blue’s cockpit, “Like looking at my ass that much Keith?”

Lance didn’t get a coherent response back as Keith choked, his spluttering frantic and Lance was sure that Keith was as red as his lion. Lance chuckled before he flew Blue out of her hangar and into the courtyard, “Joking. You are very easy to fluster.”

“Lance, I don’t mean to interrupt you flirting with Keith but Klyxap is leading Allura and Coran to his village.” Hunk’s voice interrupted Lance and Lance rolled his eyes before letting out a small whine with mirth dancing in his eyes, “You’re no fun buddy. It’s fun hearing the normally brooding Keith so flustered. I should have done this way back at the Garrison.”

“Funny because I don’t remember you at all except you being a cargo pilot.” Keith hissed out, embarrassment laced in his voice.

Lance scowled slightly before dropping the expression, leaning back against his chair and turning his head to look at the scenery that Blue was flying past. His eyes softened up, his eyes getting teary as he watched the peace that was on the planet. He sighed before turning his gaze forward, his knuckles tightening against the controls of his lion.

Blue sensed her paladin’s distress and sent a series of calming thrums to try and comfort her upset paladin. Lance smiled softly, his grip loosening up as he mumbled softly, “Thanks beautiful. I’m sorry for that.”

Blue pulsed warmly and Lance felt the comforting feeling of what seemed like a blanket dropping on his shoulders. He sighed softly and closed his eyes, taking in the relaxing feeling of Blue’s presence. His eyes snapped open when Blue landed next to the Arusian’s village and he slowly stood up, stretching his arms over his head as he let out a groan when his shoulders popped. He patted Blue’s dashboard and said, “Rest up girl. You know what’s coming up next.”

Blue purred her reply, lowering her head as he walked out of her cockpit. He headed towards Keith and Hunk who were waiting for him. Lance noticed Keith still had a flushed look on his face and he was curious into why it was still there.

The blue paladin walked up to his husband and leaned down slightly, “You okay Mullet? You look flustered.”

“Mind your own business.” Keith huffed, looking away from the tall Cuban as his face flushed an even brighter red. Lance turned to look at Hunk who had a knowing smug look on his face, “Ummm.. Okay?”

“We should get going. Also, for some reason Allura gave these to me?” Hunk gestured to the round looking rocks he had in his arms that Lance failed to notice the first time. “Oh, do you need help carrying them? They look heavy.” Lance asked, already reaching out to help his best friend who stepped back so he was out of reach from Lance, “Nope don’t worry. It’s not that heavy.”

Lance slowly nodded, unsure before turning his head to look over at Allura. He rushed over to her side with the other paladins following after him. In almost an instant, the small Arusians started to gather around them to interact. Lance chuckled as the locals looked at them with awe and wonder.

He turned to look at the others to see Hunk handing out the rocks he had in his arms, Coran hugging an Arusian wearing a pink dress, and Allura and Keith over looking the villagers. He snapped out of his musing when a slightly bigger Arusian stepped up, calling the others attention to him.

“Oh Lion Goddess. I, king of the Arusians, formerly beg your forgiveness,” the king clasped his hands together as a peace offering and continued, “Please have mercy on us and accept our traditional dance of apology as an atonement of our wrong doings.” With that, he shut his eyes and clapped twice.

Lance watched as a young Arusian lady - or he assumed, he couldn’t be too sure with alien genders - ran forward and posed. “Commence dance of apology! **UWAH!** ” The king exclaimed, bowing down slightly as the Arusians started banging on their drums, playing a tune that Lance tapped alongside with his feet.

The ‘female’ Arusian started dancing and Lance saw the look of confusion on Allura’s face from the corner of his eye and he resisted the urge to chuckle when she spoke up, “Please, there’s no need for this.”

“Monto, **HALT!** ” The king demanded causing the lady to freeze up in the middle of her dance. “The Goddess has refused the apology. Prepare the sacrificial fire!” Lance watched with a raised eyebrow as one of the other Arusians threw what looked like a torch into a pile of wood causing it to burst into flames. “We must throw ourselves in!”

“ **NO!** No sacrifices!” Allura reached out her hand, her face panicked and Lance resisted an urge to chuckle at how flustered the princess was. “So... we may proceed with the dance?” The king asked, his face brightening up as he stared up at the Altean who dropped her panicked expression.

“That... is a better alternative.” Allura sighed softly, her tense shoulders relaxing as the king clapped once again to resume the dancing. Once the dancer was done, she bowed down with the other Arusians following her example. “Oh wow. Please. Please rise. Thank you for that but I am not a great being worthy of your worship and praise. I accidentally put you in harm’s way. It is I who should be apologizing to you all.”

Lance shifted his weight from one leg to the other, placing a hand on his hip as he tilted his head slightly to look over at Keith. Keith was busy eyeing the small Arusians to notice Lance staring and the Cuban shifted his gaze before the other caught him staring.

Lance didn’t realize he zoned out during Allura’s speech until the king spoke up as he rose to his feet, gesturing slightly to himself as well as the others around him, “But the mighty robotic angel. Has it not come to destroy us because of our immoral ways?”

“Voltron?” Allura blinked in confusion with a quirk of her silver eyebrow as she continued, a smile drawing on her beautiful face, “No. In fact, that almighty robot is here to protect you.” The princess looked away from the king to motion to the other locals, “Let it be known. Voltron will protect every innocent being throughout the universe!”

The Arusians cheered happily before approaching the paladins. Lance chuckled to himself as one of the Arusians made its way to his shoulder, clinging to him slightly to not fall as the others latched to his shins and hips. Lance looked over and almost burst out laughing when he saw Keith walking through the small crowd only to be tackled by an Arusian.

Lance watched fondly, his eyes softening up as he listened to Keith, “Uh.. I don’t usually hug strangers but, man, you are cuddly.”

“Thank you.” The obviously male Arusian spoke up with a deep and gravelly voice. Lance saw Keith malfunction at the voice that didn’t match the small cuddly looking Arusian and he couldn’t help but call out to the other sword wielding paladin, “Having fun there fighter pilot?”

Keith shifted his gaze from the small Arusian to Lance with a glare fixated on his face as the pale male huffed, “Shut up Lance.”

Lance pried the locals that were clinging to him off of him gently and placed them back on their feet before they rushed over to where Allura and Hunk were. Lance strolled over to Keith and nudged him slightly in the side as the latter placed the Arusian he had in his grasp back to the ground, “Something bothering you man? You seem really tense.”

“It’s nothing.” Keith shrugged, his shoulders still tensed and his grey-violet eyes shifting every so often. Lance frowned, his eyes narrowed as he looked at his future husband. Keith only stared back before he huffed impatiently, crossing his arms over his chest. “Fine. I’m just worried. It feels like something could go wrong.”

“Look buddy. I know you’re paranoid but you have to relax a bit. I mean, sure you can be on alert but try and relax here. We don’t want to frighten the Arusians right?” Lance shot a smile at Keith whose frown only deepened. Lance rolled his eyes before reaching out and patting Keith’s shoulder, “Hey, don’t worry. If anything goes wrong, you can count on Lancey Lance to protect you.” Lance winked playfully at Keith as he shot finger guns at the red paladin.

Keith scoffed slightly, his cheeks turning a soft pink as he side eyed the blue paladin, “In your dreams cargo pilot. We both know it would be me protecting the both of us.” Lance shrugged, dropping his hands to his sides as he watched Keith’s shoulders loosen up. “Whatever you say Mullet. You can go brood by those trees over there. I’m going to make myself known to these villagers.”

Without waiting for a reply, Lance turned on his heel and walked in the direction to where Hunk was busy piggy backing someone. Hunk raised his gaze and spoke with a raise of an eyebrow, “Okay. What’s up with you?”

Lance hummed in confusion as he winked at the female Arusians who swooned slightly. Hunk crossed his arms over his chest as he straightened up, looming over the Cuban, “Don’t play dumb. Ever since the Garrison you hated Keith and insisted on this rivalry with him. Now that we see him after he’s been kicked out, you’re flirting with him and acting...chummy?”

“Nothing.” Lance shrugged, turning away from Hunk who was eyeing him suspiciously. “I swear nothing is up with me. Also, I’m always like this with other people. You know me, lover boy Lance who doesn’t like making enemies unless necessary.” Lance smirked as he side eyed Hunk who only frowned.

“You’ve been acting very suspicious Lance. I’m sure you have your reasons for your secrecy but I thought we told each other everything.” Hunk looked upset as he stared at Lance. Lance felt the guilt bubbling in his chest and he looked away from Hunk to not break, “I’ll tell you when I’m ready buddy. Okay? Just trust me.”

Lance didn’t dare look at Hunk in fear of blurting something that he wasn’t supposed to say. He heard Hunk sigh before the bulky male spoke softly with a dejected tone, “Okay... I trust you man. Just... I’m here for you if you ever need me.”

“I know buddy. I know.” Lance felt tears bubble in his eyes as he looked down at the ground, _‘I’m so sorry Hunk. I want to tell you. Really I do. But I can’t risk your safety and everyone else’s.’_

Lance continued to play around with the Arusians, flirting his way through the interactions as his thoughts wandered off. He blinked out of his reverie when he felt the surface he was standing on start to shake. His eyes narrowed and his eyes instantly snapped up to the sky where a flaming comet seemed to descend from the skies. He barely heard the panicked voice of Shiro through his helmet as he looked at the others, “We gotta get to the lions quickly. Shiro and Pidge need us.”

“Wait what?! Lance!” Hunk exclaimed but Lance didn’t hear as he rushed over to Blue who immediately opened her mouth for him as he jet packed into her cockpit. He slid into his chair and gripped his controls, “Allura, Coran, get the Arusians to safety. Hunk, Keith, we need to go to where that comet is.”

He heard Hunk trying to hide along with the Arusians only for Keith to grumble as he dragged the yellow paladin by the collar towards their lions. Lance growled as he pushed hard on Blue’s pedals and pulling just as roughly on her controls to launch the mechanical cat into the air. He activated his coms and called out to Shiro and Pidge, “Shiro, Pidge, are you okay? Where are you?”

“We need back up. Try and get here as soon as you can. We don’t think we can handle this thing on our own.” Shiro’s static laced voice resounded from the coms and Lance bit his lip. Lance turned his coms towards Keith and Hunk and spoke directly to Keith, “Mullet, you go on ahead. Red is the fastest lion amongst all of the lions. You need to get to Shiro and Pidge first.”

“On it.” Keith’s voice quickly sounded before he saw Red fly forward quickly in the direction where the explosions were coming. “Hunk, buddy, I’ll join Keith. You get it from the back.” Hunk agreed and Lance shifted Blue’s controls to follow after his husband’s lion.

“Lay out some cover fire so that they can get out of there!” Keith directed, his inner leader coming out and Lance was compelled to follow his orders. “I’m on it!” Lance activated Blue’s tail laser and him and Keith started shooting ray after ray at the Robobeast to distract it from Green and Black. “Check this out! Battle lion headbutt!”

Hunk appeared from behind the beast and used Yellow to headbutt the robot in the back causing it to fall on its knees. Lance flew Blue over to the others as Black, Green and Yellow joined them.

“Are the Galra behind this?” Hunk asked in fear as they watched the beast rise to its feet. “I think so but I’ve never seen anything like it before.” Shiro furrowed his eyebrows. Lance frowned as Pidge spoke up, “So what’s the plan? Shoot at it with everything we have?”

“If there’s one way to take down this thing, there’s one way to do it.” Shiro spoke and Lance could feel the instant pull of all the lions in one direction. “It’s time to form Voltron!”

Lance allowed the tugging feeling on his belly to pull him towards the others and in an instant, Voltron was formed before landing heavily on its feet. “Remember. We are one unit fighting with one goal.” Shiro commanded, his voice hard and his eyes narrowing as they eyed the beast in front of them.

Lance tightened his grip on Blue’s controls, willing his nervousness away so that the others wouldn’t feel it through their bond. The robobeast charged up his weapon just as Voltron bolted towards it, dodging the glowing purple orb that was thrown in their direction and using the opportunity to throw a punch using Red.

The punch was stopped by the Gladiator’s weapon and Pidge pushed Green to uppercut the beast, forcing the robot back and they jumped into the air, bringing down their weight on the beast. Lance felt a smirk appear on his lips only for it to get swiped off his face when Voltron got hit by the purple orb that whizzed back to them.

Lance groaned in pain from the impact before looking up, seeing through Blue that the orb was about to hit them again. His eyes widened in fear and they all pulled on their controls, forcing Voltron out of the way as Keith screamed, “I thought Voltron was supposed to be the most powerful weapon in the universe!”

“Yea! So how is this monster kicking our butts?!” Hunk screeched as they maneuvered out of the way of the purple orb. Their eyes plastered on the orb before turning in time for the beast to sneak up on them and punch them in the gut. Lance winced when Blue rattled slightly from the impact. Lance lifted his gaze and he saw that they were near the Arusian village. His fear was probably obvious when Shiro spoke up, “Oh no. The village. We have to protect those people.”

Lance was going to voice his agreement when the orb made contact with them again, forcing them back into the village. Lance’s eyes widened and he pulled on Blue’s controls, activating her thrusters to land on the village. “That was close.” Lance sighed in relief as they directed Voltron away from the Arusian’s village. “We got that thing away from the Arusians but for some reason, we can’t take it down.” Pidge’s voice resounded in his com and Lance felt compelled to say something but kept his mouth shut.

“Pidge! Fire lasers now!” Pidge attempted to follow Shiro’s orders only for her to accidentally activate the shield instead of Green’s lasers. “No! Pidge! Lasers. **Lasers!** ” Shiro panicked slightly and Lance grunted when the Gladiator practically body slammed itself into them before the orb slammed into them as well.

Voltron staggered to its feet before turning to look at the robot. “Every time we focus on that orb that monster blind sights us and every time we focus on the monster the orb hits us!” Hunk panicked, anxiety creeping in his voice. “Then what are we supposed to do?!” Lance exclaimed, his fear of things going wrong crawling into his mind and leaving a seed of doubt. “ **ORB!** ”

Hunk’s screech fell on deaf ears as Red rose up and took the blunt of the hit, pushing Voltron onto its back. Lance grunted once again as he was jostled in his seat. “Shiro, we got to move! Shiro! Are you there? Shiro!” Keith asked, expecting an answer from their leader only to receive silence. “Shiro?” Lance asked softly, his eyebrows furrowing when Shiro didn’t answer his husband’s calls.

“That sound..” Lance blinked in confusion when Shiro finally spoke up. “I recognize this monster from my time in Zarkon’s prison! I know how to beat him!” Shiro called out, his voice hard.

Lance could hear Shiro’s voice in his mind through their bond and he instinctively moved, allowing Voltron to dash out of the beast’s way.

“Listen!” Shiro’s commanding voice echoed in their coms and Lance straightened up, his body reacting accordingly to his senior’s orders. “There’s a loud sound when the orb returns to the base of the weapon and every third time, the orb needs to charge up! That’s this monster’s weakest point! That’s when we strike.”

“Okay. So what do we do in the mean time?” Hunk asked and Shiro responded almost instantly, “ **Defense!** ”

The Gladiator threw the orb towards Voltron, “Pidge, we need that shield!” Pidge responded by lifting Green up and using the shield to deflect the orb. “That’s one. Two more to go!” The orb rushed back towards them and bounced off the shield once more, pushing back Voltron and Lance used Blue to steady the whole robot up so that they wouldn’t topple over.

“We can’t take much more!” Hunk exclaimed and Lance could just watch in fear and distress as the orb came rushing back towards them. “Last one! Everyone! Brace for impact!”

The orb made contact with the shield before bouncing off and the shield flew out of their grasp, landing a few feet behind them in two pieces. The orb flew back to the weapon, charging up and Shiro gasped, “ **Now!** ”

Keith responded quickly and Red rose up before shooting his mouth cannon, making a direct hit at the monster’s chest. The smoke cleared and the beast stood up, unscathed. “It didn’t work!” Lance growled, his eyes narrowed as he looked at the monster. “So now what?!” Pidge screeched before they got hit by the orb once again, knocking them back.

“When I attacked him before, I had a sword.” Shiro frowned, the stress evident in his voice as Hunk yelled, “ **ORB! ORB!** ”

They had no time to react and they were hit full on by the glowing purple orb. “We can’t take another shot like that!” Pidge yelled through their coms, their voice sounding like static.

Lance was about to speak up when he froze up, hearing Red’s growling in his head. Lance quickly looked up to where he knew Keith was and called out just as Keith spoke up.

“Keith!”

“Wait a second guys!”

Keith blinked in confusion and asked, “Lance?”

“Red spoke to you didn’t he?” Lance called out quickly, his eyes following the monster’s movements and Keith answered hesitantly, “Yeah... How did you know?”

”I heard his growling! Just do whatever he’s telling you to because that monster is about to fire his third shot!” Lance screeched as the monster moved the orb towards them. Lance groaned when the orb made impact and they struggled to their feet. They lifted their head when the beast was about to descend on them and Lance heard Keith’s battle cry as he activated his sword, slicing through the beast and causing it to erupt into flames.

Everyone started cheering and Hunk called out, “How did you do that?!”

“Woah.. Heh. Thanks Red.” Keith chuckled and Lance felt his heart warm when he heard Red’s soft purring at his paladin’s praise. They disassembled Voltron and Lance flew Blue back to the castle, entering her hangar and exiting her cockpit.

He strolled back to the lounge, yawning slightly as he sat down heavily on the couch. Keith was on his other side and Lance resisted the urge to lean on him and cuddle like he always did after a tiring mission. Lance looked at Shiro who entered the room, “Congratulations team! We really outdid ourselves today. And good work Keith.” Keith smirked at the praise and Lance’s eyes softened at the sight before looking away before anyone caught him looking at the paler male with goo-goo eyes. 

“We should try and get some rest. We worked really hard today.” After that was said, Pidge stood up and left without a word. Lance’s blue eyes followed her small figure sadly knowing that she was upset over not finding any news about her family. Shiro’s gaze also followed Pidge before he excused himself to follow her out. “I’m going to go sleep. Who knows when Allura or Coran will force us awake?” Hunk yawned and Lance waved lazily in where he assumed Hunk was headed since his eyes were closed.

Lance expected Keith to silently get up and leave to go back to his room or even head towards the training deck to kick some castle bot’s butts but he didn’t hear any rustling coming from Keith’s direction. Lance cracked open one eye and looked towards Keith to see the latter already staring at him. ”Whatcha’ starin’ at?”

“I don’t get it.” Keith spoke up after a tick of silence and staring at the tan male. “Don’t get what?” Lance quirked an eyebrow at his future husband as he lifted one leg to rest his ankle at his other knee forming a figure 4 with his legs.

“You said you heard Red. How?” Keith asked as he leaned forward slightly, almost unconsciously. Lance almost froze up at the question and shrugged his shoulders, “I don’t know either. I was just minding my own business, trying to keep us alive when I heard growling. I thought it was Blue but Blue’s growling sounds much softer and soothing almost like soft moving water. The one I heard was more aggressive and impulsive just like fire so I just assumed it was Red since you know, his paladin is the same.”

Lance smirked as he looked at Keith who flushed. Keith huffed before he stood up, towering over Lance. “You’re an enigma. You aren’t anything like I expected. I don’t know if I should be wary of you or not.”

“There’s a lot of things you don’t know about me Kogane. Some things are just things you should never find out.” Lance spoke softly, shifting his gaze away from Keith’s intense grey-violet eyes. Lance just listened as Keith walked away to the direction of what he knew was the other’s room. Lance sighed as he looked up, staring at the ceiling before he pushed himself off the couch and he trudged to his room, his hands stuffed in his pockets.

He placed his hand on the panel and the door slid open. He walked in before flopping on his bed. He covered his eyes with his forearm and he let out another huff. He dropped his arm to his side before curling up into a ball and shutting his eyes, _‘I’m coming for you Sendak and when I do, you’ll regret ever messing with my family.’_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so there was that. Again, I apologize for the shit ass chapter. I WILL make it up to you guys especially since the bonding moment will come up soon *wink wonk*
> 
> Thanks for the continuous support~ I appreciate all of it. 
> 
> Don’t hesitate to bookmark, kudos, subscribe and/or comment about what you think. :) 
> 
> See you next chapter!


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Hunk! My beautiful face will be ruined from all this stress of saving the universe. I wanted to be the hero my mama always told me I was but at what cost? Why must my gorgeous face suffer?"
> 
> "What's Lance moaning about this time?"
> 
> "My face Pidge! My beautiful face will be ruined with how little I care for it now that I will be busy saving damsels in distress!"  
> \----  
> Pidge. I miss you. I miss you and Allura and Lotor and Coran and Matt and Shiro and Hunk. I miss Keith. I miss my Keith. I miss my family. These people aren't my family. I... I don't belong here. I..'
> 
> "Mind if I join you?"  
> \----  
> "Coran! Look out!"
> 
> 'I let my guard down...'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I'm so sorry for being so late in my updates. I wasn't able to find good internet to update and I was having difficulties in how to make this chapter flow at the ending part because I wasn't sure what was I was supposed to do in the explosion part but I found a way to do it. So I hope you guys enjoyed this.
> 
> There's like cute moments especially with the Garrison Trio and flirty Lance. So I hope you guys enjoy those parts because I enjoyed writing it. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy this chapter.

_He dropped his arm to his side before curling up into a ball and shutting his eyes, 'I'm coming for you Sendak and when I do, you'll regret ever messing with my family.'_

\----

Lance jerked up from his pillow, sweat beading his temple before sliding down his cheek as he took greedy gulps of air in. His light blue eyes were wide and full of fear and desperation as the blue orbs darted around the silent room.

He breathed in deeply, attempting to calm his breathing as well as his fast racing heart as he pulled one of his knees towards his chest while keeping his other leg stretched out in front of him. He sighed softly as he muttered underneath his breath, "It was just a dream. Just a dream. Calm down Lance."

He rubbed at his eyes with the heel of his palm before he looked around, searching for anything that would indicate the time. He dug underneath his pillow and pulled out the phone Coran gave him, switching it on and blinking slightly when the bright light evaded his sleep-depraved eyes.

It was around two in the morning and Lance sighed when he realized he wouldn't be able to go back to sleep. He slowly rose from his bed, swinging his feet off and into his shoes that were resting at the end of his bed. He tossed the blanket that was bunched around his stomach off his figure, reaching out for his bayard that was at the foot of his bed.

He stood up, bayard clutched tightly in his hand and he walked out of his room, looking around for any signs of his teammates. Once he was certain that no other living being was awake, he snuck off in the direction of the training deck. He entered the brightly lit room, blinking furiously so that his eyes adjusted to the sudden increase of lighting.

He walked to the middle of the room, activating his bayard to take form as his blaster before he called into the empty room, "Target practice. Start simulation."

Lance watched as a hatch in the side of the training room opened and allowed twenty round drones to fly out, circling the blue paladin. Lance's eyes darkened as it started shooting at him making him move so that he wouldn't get hit before he aimed straight at them, shooting them out of commission only to be replaced by new ones that flew out of the newly opened hatch.

This continued on for who knows how long - Lance wasn't keeping track and frankly, he didn't care since it kept his thoughts from flooding his mind and overwhelming him.

He only looked away from the drones when the doors of the training room slid open and he blinked slightly when he saw Keith walk in, his red bayard in hand. Keith looked surprised to see Lance and before Lance could call out anything, he dodged to the side, a shot narrowly missing him and he called out, "End training simulator."

The drones flickered out of sight, disintegrating into light particles and Lance straightened up to look over at Keith. He lifted a hand to wipe at the sweat dotting his forehead and he shot a crooked smile at Keith, lifting the same hand to wave, "Yo. Fancy seeing you here."

"I should be telling you that. You don't seem like the type to train this early. Or any time at all." Keith spoke as he walked up to the other paladin. Lance just shrugged as he willed his blaster back to his bayard before stuffing it in the back pocket of his jeans. "There's a lot of things you don't know about me Kogane. I told you that." Lance stated softly as he placed a hand on his hip, his head tilted slightly to the side as he looked at the unaware half-Galran male.

Keith raised an eyebrow at that statement before Lance spoke up, "Well, I'm finished in here. I should get something to eat. I'll see you later man."

Lance walked by Keith, patting him on the shoulder and he felt the other tense up slightly at the brief touch the other gave him. Lance instantly let go, knowing that Keith was not used to receiving any kind of affection whether it be from friends or lovers at this point in his life - the only other person that Keith would allow to touch him would go to Shiro.

Lance smiled before saying, "The training room's all yours."

Without another word, the time traveler left the room but not before hearing the red paladin's grumbling, "Cute.. why can't I--"

Lance chuckled softly as he headed in the direction of the kitchen. The door automatically slid open when it sensed him and he strolled towards the drawers, opening it and scooping out a bowl and spoon before heading towards the goo machine.

He pulled on the hose that dispensed the goo and pushed slightly on the trigger, allowing the green goo to land in his bowl with a disgusting 'sklomp' sound. He started feeding himself the goo as he headed towards the control room where he hoped to look over the constellations. He blinked in surprise when he saw Allura in there, looking through the castle's stats.

"Good morning princess and must I say, my morning just got better since I saw you." Lance patted himself on the back mentally at his flirting skills as Allura turned to look at him when the doors slid shut behind him. Allura eyed him slightly before she turned away from him to look back at the floating screens in front of her. "What are you working on?" Lance asked as he walked up behind her, shoveling the last of the food goo in his mouth.

"I'm double checking all of the castle's stats so that we will not have any troubles when we leave Planet Arus." Allura stated, swiping her hand across the screen that was floating beside her and Lance just let out a small hum, a hand on his hip while the other was holding onto the empty bowl he had on hand.

"I'm surprised to see you up so early Lance. You don't seem like the type to be up so early." Lance blinked slightly when he heard Allura. He watched the back of her head, his eyes narrowed slightly before he shrugged even though she couldn't see his motion. "I woke up in the middle of the night and couldn't sleep so I went to train a bit in the training deck. I would have stayed longer if _Mullet_ didn't interrupt me."

Lance forced himself to put venom into his tone when he said Mullet. Allura stayed quiet and Lance just assumed that was the end of the conversation. He turned on his heel to return back to the kitchen when Allura spoke up, her voice sounding questioning, "Why do you act like that?" Lance turned to face the beautiful princess, blue eyes clashing with blue as he raised his eyebrows.

"Act like what?" Lance questioned, his stance getting slightly defensive as he crossed his arms over his chest to act like a barrier between the two. "You don't seem like you actually hate Keith. Your body language tells the truth even if your words and tone says otherwise." Allura stated bluntly, turning her body away from Lance but keeping her eyes on him.

Lance frowned as he shrugged yet again, "I don't hate Keith. I admire him, a lot actually. He was the best pilot back in the Garrison and I wanted to be like that, be like him. I wanted to be his friend, someone he could maybe confide in but he wouldn't open up to anyone that wasn't Shiro." Lance sighed, shifting his weight as he scratched the back of his neck almost like he was embarrassed.

"I don't hate him. I don't even dislike him. I never did and I never will." Lance ended the conversation as quickly as it started - mostly in fear of giving his feelings away - by turning on his heel and stalking out of the control room.  _'Am I really that obvious?'_ Lance mused to himself as he shuffled back to the kitchen, keeping his eyes plastered to his feet.

He looked up when he heard shuffling coming from the kitchen and he saw the familiar large figure of his best friend moving around the kitchen. "Morning buddy." Lance greeted Hunk once he stepped into the kitchen, heading straight to the dishwasher and placing his bowl down as he knew very well that it would clean itself. Hunk looked up from whatever he was doing and waved lazily at Lance, "Hey Lance. Morning. I'm surprised to see you up this early."

Hunk sounded suspicious and Lance tilted his head as he walked towards the island of the kitchen, heaving his tall frame up onto the counter and swinging his long legs slightly, "Why is everyone so shocked when they see me up early?"

"Well... you don't really seem like a morning person and usually you would come out of your room looking impeccable as ever, you know, smooth looking skin and bright shining lips. Now? You just look like a hot mess, and I don't mean that in a good way." Hunk frowned as he pointed what looked like a whisk at Lance - although it looked like a combination of a whisk and a spatula. Lance brought a hand to his face, rubbing at his cheeks before he shrugged, "I was training so obviously my hard work of getting this beautiful face as smooth looking as ever would got to waste." Lance sighed dramatically as he flopped back on the counter, his lanky arms dangling off the sides and his head hanging of the edge as he moaned in mock distress, "Hunk! My beautiful face will be ruined from all this stress of saving the universe. I wanted to be the hero my mama always told me I was but at what cost? Why must my gorgeous face suffer?"

"What's Lance moaning about this time?" Lance turned his hanging head to the entrance to see Pidge walking in. She looked like she didn't get much sleep if the bags under her eyes were any indication. "My face Pidge! My beautiful face will be ruined with how little I care for it now that I will be busy saving damsels in distress!" Lance groaned playfully, pushing his forearms against his eyes while a smile played at his lips.

Lance heard Pidge chuckle before a hand found its way to his dark brown hair and he retracted his arm away from his eyes to meet the upside down image of Pidge's face as she ran her fingers through his short hair, "You're impossible Lance. You look beautiful even without your beauty routine that you try and follow every night."

"Aww! I knew you cared Pidgey!" Lance squealed as he sat up, reaching his lanky arms over the counter to wrap around the disguised girl who squawked at being cocooned tightly, "Let go of me Lance!"

"Nope! I need to show my love and appreciation for my cute little tech whiz!" Lance giggled as he pulled the girl up over the counter and into his lap before placing his chin on the top of her head. Pidge seemed to deflate, giving up on fighting against his tight grip but Lance felt the way she leaned back against his chest and seemingly started to relax into his lithe figure. "What in the world is going on in here?"

Lance shifted his gaze to the entrance, not moving his chin away from Pidge's hair, to see Shiro and Keith walk into the kitchen. Keith's shirt was slightly damp and his hair was dotting with droplets of sweat while Shiro was staring at the sight of Lance coddling Pidge with a raised eyebrow. Lance unwrapped one of his arms from Pidge's waist to wave to the two newly arrivals but kept his other arm around Pidge so that she wouldn't escape his grasp, "Morning Shiro. Oh it's nothing. I'm just showing my affection for Pidge and overall just the Garrison trio bonding."

Pidge let out another noise of protest when he tightened his arm around his but she didn't seem to want to squirm her way out. Hunk chuckled as he moved around the kitchen. "Garrison trio?" Keith asked, his eyebrow quirked upward as his grey-violet eyes seemed to take in the image of Lance hugging Pidge."

"Umm, yea. We were a team back in the Garrison. Me as fighter pilot. Hunk as my engineer and Pidge as my communications officer." Lance winked up at his husband who instantly flushed as he looked away from the tan male. Shiro chuckled at seeing Keith flustered, almost like he knew something that Lance didn't, "It's nice to see you three keeping the bond you had at the Garrison alive."

Lance shot a bright smile and was about to speak up when the doors of the kitchen slid open once again, Allura stepping inside with Coran a few steps behind her at her right side. Lance pouted when Pidge squirmed her way out of his arms so that she was planted back to the floor.

"Ah. Paladins, perfect. Coran and I were thinking. We should host a party for the Arusians and allow them to see the inside of the castle." Allura smiled sweetly as her eyes swept over the paladins. Lance felt his shoulders tense up slightly before he forced himself to relax, pushing back the urge to growl loudly at the thought of Sendak getting close to his family.

Lance blinked before he allowed himself to force a grin on his lips, "A party?"

Allura nodded happily, her blue eyes sparkling brightly and Lance swung his legs before throwing himself off the counter and to his feet as he cheered, forcing a tone of excitement in his voice even though he was obviously worried, "Alright! I don't know about you guys but I better get going so I can this body ready for that party!" Lance winked, his smirk flashing slightly in the light as he shot finger guns in the other's direction and he resisted the urge to chuckle when he saw the exasperated looks on their faces.

Lance stuffed his hands into the pockets of his jacket and strolled out of the kitchen, hoping that his tense shoulders weren't obvious to the others as he walked past them. When they didn't stop him - immediately going back to discuss the party - he assumed that he was successful in fooling them but he felt a burning glare directed at his back. He looked over his shoulder and met grey-violet narrowed eyes as the owner watched him leave. He shot Keith what he hoped was a convincing smile and by the way Keith looked away, he knew he was off the hook.

Lance walked back to his room, listening to the small humming of the castle and his almost too-silent steps in the corridors of the empty castle. He looked around, his eyes glittering as he stood in front of his room. He placed his hand on the panel of his room, allowing the door to slide open to reveal his semi-empty room.

He stepped inside, letting the door slide shut behind him as he walked over to his bed. He sat at the edge, his elbows resting on his knees as he leaned forward. Lance let out a sigh before he retracted his bayard from his back pocket and pushing it underneath his pillow. 

He retracted his arm back to his side and he tilted his head up to look at the ceiling. He shut his eyes as he mumbled, backing up so that his back was pressed up against the wall, "I need to get off this planet already. I need to find Matt. I need to contact the Blade of Marmora. I need to get to Lotor first before Zarkon and Haggar get to him. I need to get so much done and yet.. I just can't mess this up. I just... I just can't."

\----

A loud knocking interrupted the impromptu nap that Lance was having causing him to snap his eyes open. He rubbed at his sleep filled eyes with the heel of his palm, clearing his throat so that his voice didn't sound so groggy and heavy with sleep as he forced himself to sit at the edge of his bed, "Yeah?"

The door leading to his room slid open and he watched as Keith casually walked in, donned in his red paladin armor. Lance gulped roughly, his throat parched before he cleared his throat once again, "Is there something you needed Keith?"

"Shiro sent me here to get you. The party is about to start." Keith spoke, his arms crossed over his chest. "Oh. Okay. I should get ready then." Lance mumbled under his breath, shuffling off his bed and in the direction where he kept his paladin armor.

He gripped the hem of his blue and white long-sleeved t-shirt and started tugging it over his head when he heard a strange strangled noise coming from the entrance. He looked over where the sound originated from to see the red face of Keith staring back at him with wide grey-violet eyes. Lance tilted his head to the side in slight confusion as he asked, "What's up?"

" **What's up?!?** What do you mean 'what's up?' Why are you stripping so casually in front of me?!" Keith's voice went a pitch higher than normal, almost sounding like he was screeching and Lance blinked in confusion as he shrugged out of his shirt, letting the shirt drop into a pile on the floor, "What? I don't see the problem here. We're both guys aren't we? I don't plan on removing my underwear in front of you man." Lance suddenly had an idea, smirking as he quirked a flirtatious eyebrow at his husband, "I mean, unless you want me to _cariño~_ "

Keith let out another strangled noise that sounded vaguely like a whimper to Lance and before Lance could ask about it, Keith's mouth started moving at the speed of light and his words seemed to mash together, "I'msorryI'llseeyouatthepartyIgottagonowbye!"

Lance watched, his eyebrow still quirked upward when the other male practically ran out of the room in a flustered panic. Lance blinked before he allowed his smirk to drop and a fond smile to appear on his lips, "Damn. If I knew that flirting with Keith this early on would get him this flustered, I would have done this before."

He quickly stripped of his clothing - ignoring the way his and Keith's wedding rings clashed together around his neck, Lance was surprised that Keith didn't even notice it - before donning on the black skin-tight flight suit and pulled on the armor plates over the suit. Once he was certain he had everything, he walked back to his bed, lifting up the pillow and fetching his bayard when he immediately stored in the storage unit found at the thigh area of the armor.

He left his room, looking over his shoulder to make sure he had everything before he headed towards the ballroom where he knew the party was being held. He blinked when he passed by a few mingling Arusians and he waved politely at the ones who acknowledged him, flashing them a smile as he walked up to Keith who was holding a glass of nunvill before grabbing a glass of nunvill that passed by him on a hover tray.

He reached over and wrapped his unoccupied arm around his husband's shoulder and asked, "So, did I miss anything?"

Keith stiffened under his touch, "Nope. The king is just finishing up his little skit. And will you let go of me?"

"The monster fell from the sky! It was an epic battle but Voltron was victorious!" Lance retracted his arm from Keith's shoulders and he looked up the flight of stairs to see a couple of Arusians topple over. "Oh. I said  **Voltron** was victorious!" The Arusians that toppled over rose almost instantly and the two Arusians opposite of them fell over. The Arusians around Lance cheered, raising their glass of nunvill in happiness.

Lance chuckled at the sight and he turned his attention back to Allura who spoke up after the king finished, "Thank you your Majesty for that... wonderful production. It saddens me that we must leave tomorrow but we must continue our battle with Zarkon and spread peace throughout the universe." Allura turned back to the king after addressing the other locals, holding out her hand that was holding onto a communicator, "Your Highness, please accept this gift. This will allow you to contact us anytime you need help."

The king accepted the king, flashing a smile to the princess in gratitude. "Arus will be the first planet in the Voltron Alliance." The king turned to his people before cheering, " **HOORAH!** " 

The little aliens all lifted their glasses in cheer and Lance looked over when Hunk walked over to them, "We gotta get something like that." 

"Like what?" The red paladin asked, his arms crossed over his chest as he raised an eyebrow at Hunk. "You know, like a cheer. Like a team cheer that we do." Hunk spoke, gesturing slightly with his hands.

Lance hummed in thought, bringing a hand to cup at his chin, "Yea.. Hmm. How about.."

"I say Vol and you say Tron. Vol--" Lance looked over at Hunk and Keith before his husband muttered in confusion, "Uhhh.. Voltron??"

Lance looked disbelieving at his husband before he cleared his throat, "No. No. Nonono. The cheer includes the instructions. I say Vol and you say--" Lance gestured once again, hoping that Keith would understand. Keith blinked before he tried again, "Vol.. Tron?"

_'I can't believe I'm married to a dumb ass, a cute dumb ass but a dumb ass nonetheless.'_ Lance deadpanned as he stared at Keith's adorably confused face, "We'll work on it."

Lance looked away from the other two paladins as he lifted the glass of nunvill to his lips, taking a deep chug of the liquid. Lance shivered when the liquid trickled down, his throat burning as he gagged but pushed the liquid down nonetheless.  _'For Alfor's sake, I forgot how bad nunvill tastes.'_

He saw Coran hanging in the middle of the room close to where they were and he rushed to the Altean male's side, "Coran what is this?"

"Oh. This is nunvill, the nectar of the gods." Coran spoke, turning his head to face the tan Cuban as the paladin gagged slightly, "It tastes like hot dog water and feet."

"Yea. Makes a wonderful hair tonic as well." Coran dipped his fingers into his cup and started splashing some of the liquid over his orange mustache, the paladin watching as the hair seemed to grow in volume. Coran started to walk away to where Shiro was propped up against the wall and Lance just gagged, feeling a bit of vomit wanting to make its way up.

Lance barely acknowledged Hunk and Keith as they looked him over, worried about his downtrodden figure. He felt a delicate finger poking his shoulder and he didn't resist the pull of gravity on him as he fell to the ground on his side. He curled up into a fetus position, not caring that he was in a room full of Arusians and that his best friend and husband were towering over him.

"Lance, buddy, are you okay?" Lance groaned, feeling himself retch as he grunted, "No. I feel like my insides are dying."

"I think you're just overreacting." Keith spoke, his knees bended slightly as he looked down at Lance. Lance glared at the black haired male before he sat up slowly, "Try for yourself. See how much you like it."

Keith shrugged, walking away and Hunk helped Lance up to his feet. Lance took another glass of nunvill as it floated by and he looked down at his reflection, "I guess we should get used to this space juice. Who knows when we'll get back home again?"

Lance lifted his gaze to look at Hunk who was swirling the juice in his glass. "Yea. If ever."

"What do you mean?" Lance looked confused and Hunk sighed, "I mean, this Zarkon guy has been ruling for ten thousand years. How long do you think it'll take us to fix it? You know, if we live." Hunk ended his rant by picking up a plate of swirly lollipops - Lance wasn't sure what it was.

"Right. That." Lance muttered under his breath,  _'I.. Even after almost ten years of this war, we weren't close to winning and.. and I've lost almost half of the people I cared about. I need to make sure it doesn't happen again.'_

"Hey, what's the chances of us landing on a nacho planet?" Hunk asked as he looked at the bowl he picked up with a smile drawing on his face. 

"Well, there's only one place with Varadera Beach, pizza shack overlooking the water, and the garlic knots and Ke..." Lance stopped, his memories of Earth being replaced as he thought back to the future. Lance felt tears build up in his eyes as he thought of how he left his family behind in the future, "I'm sorry. I think this nunvill is getting to me. I gotta go."

Lance lowered his head as he practically scrambled away from Hunk and in the direction of the control room. He barely registered the quiet but steady footsteps following after him as he let the tears fall,  _'Pidge. I miss you. I miss you and Allura and Lotor and Coran and Matt and Shiro and Hunk. I miss Keith. I miss **my** Keith. _ _I miss **my** family. These people aren't my family. I... I don't belong here. I..'_

Lance didn't realize he reached the control room until the doors of the room slid open, allowing him to enter where he immediately headed to the small step in front of where Shiro's seat was. He wiped at his blue eyes, rubbing at his flushed cheeks to rid of the tear streaks on his cheeks. He took a deep breath in to calm his fast racing heart, propping his elbow on his knee and propping his cheek against his fist. 

He blinked when a voice interrupted his thoughts, "Mind if I join you?"

He didn't even look up as Coran hopped down to stand beside where he was seated. The Cuban sighed before he asked in a small whisper, although in the very silent room, it sounded almost like he was just speaking, "Hey Coran, have you ever wished you could go back in time?"

"Why are you asking, my boy?" Coran asked, his voice laced with confusion and Lance could feel the Altean's eyes burning a hole in the side of his head but didn't look up to meet the gaze, keeping his eyes forward and staring into the night sky. "I just... I don't understand why I was chosen. Out of everyone, why me?" Lance muttered, his question vague.

"You are questioning why the blue lion chose you, I presume?" Lance blinked before he swallowed roughly, "Y-Yea. That."

Coran walked forward towards his control pad and he stood silently, looking out the castle's windows. Lance just stared at this back of his head before Coran started speaking, "The lion saw something in you that it couldn't see in anyone else. Out of all the paladins, it responded to you meaning that you are compatible to it. Your soul, your essence, your entire being is linked to your lion's. You shouldn't question it. Your lion chose you for a reason. You may not know the reason now, but you will soon and you will understand why it did."

Lance felt his heart constrict at his words and lowered his head, opening his palms and staring at it with unfocused blue eyes, "Chose me for a reason, huh?"

"But what if I'm not capable of living to her expectations?" Lance asked, consciously knowing that he was not referring to Blue. "You will number three. The blue lion wouldn't have chosen you if it didn't think you were worthy of being its paladin." Coran reassured the blue paladin, unknowingly answering the question. 

Lance felt a smile grace his face as he stood up, walking up to Coran and mumbling softly in gratitude, "Thanks Coran. I really needed that."

"Anytime Lance." Coran spoke and they stood in silence as they looked out the window. Lance sighed before he mumbled softly, "It's been a few days at most since we came here and well, I miss my family and I miss my country. I miss the blue ocean, the white clouds, and green grass."

"You miss Earth. I understand, I miss Altea." Coran spoke, placing a comforting hand on Lance's lower back before retracting his hand back when Lance looked over at him. Lance swallowed roughly and pushing back the impending doom that was his tears, "I... I know I'm supposed to be a brave paladin, you know, one of the defenders of the universe but... honestly, I just... I just wanna go home."

_'Home. Where Keith would greet me with a kiss and his warm smile that I love so much and makes me fall in love with him all over again. Where my REAL family is.'_ Lance bit back the small whimper of loneliness as he listened to Coran speak, barely registering the words the Altean uttered, "If I could go home, I would."

"I miss K-rain." Lance interrupted his first train of thought, holding back the flinch before Coran asked in confusion, "Rain?"

Lance held back a chuckle before he explained, "It's water that falls from the sky."

"Oh! We had something like that back in Altea. Although it wasn't water, more like rocks! Razor-sharp and boiling-hot. Oh, they could knock a hole right in your head." Coran had a fond smile on his face that Lance caught and Lance could feel his own fond smile gracing his lips as he listened to the figure that acted almost like his father or uncle while his real family were on Earth, "Sounds like fun."

Coran smiled before sighing blissfully, "Yea."

Lance looks out the black sky before he states softly, "Tell me about Altea." Without even looking at Coran, the Cuban male could practically see the smile that appeared on the Altean's face. "It was such a beautiful place. I loved everything about it, the culture, the civilization, and mostly the people there." Coran sighed wistfully.

Lance looked over to Coran to see him being whisked into his thoughts as he spoke, "Alteans are wonderful. We love to interact with people and learn different cultures. We were very sociable and likable which made us great diplomats."

"I miss Altea." Coran mumbled softly, finishing his rant with an upset look on his face. Lance felt his heart go out for the older man and he straightened up, about to speak up when Coran shook himself out of his thoughts. The Altean replaced his frown with what Lance knew was a forced smile and Coran spoke, his tone sounding forcefully cheerful, "We should head back. I'm sure the princess is worried about where we went and I'm sure Hunk is looking for you."

"Yea. Let's get going." Lance mumbled, a bit downtrodden at not being able to help his space uncle. He allowed Coran to get a head start to the door before he turned on his heel to follow after him. His mind was cloudy as he headed to the entrance when he saw the little Galra drone that Pidge reprogrammed for their own use. He raised a hand weakly to greet the small floating robot, "Oh hey there Rover."

Lance continued walking before he stopped and his eyes widened. He turned back to the drone to see it hover straight towards the Balmera crystal of the castle. He saw it light up red before he gasped and screeched as he rushed towards Coran, activating his jet pack to give him a boost towards the Altean, "Coran! Look out!"

Feeling the adrenaline pumping in his veins, he used to the sudden boost of strength that coursed through his body to toss Coran towards the entrance before he felt pain burst at his back and knocking him down. A couple shards of the crystal had lodged itself into his back and the back of his legs causing him to bleed. He let out a groan of pain, feeling the blood trickle down his skin leaving a sticky trail of crimson.

The adrenaline started to leave his body making the stinging sensation he was feeling in his back and legs increase to the point that he had to let out a shaky gasp of pain. His vision started to blur out and the last thing he was able to process was Keith rushing towards him with Shiro followed closely behind the other male, the younger version of his husband looking panicked and angry while his leader looked worried.

_'I let my guard down...'_ Was the last thing that went through his subconscious before he succumbed to the sweet pull of sleep on his body.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that's that. I really hoped you enjoyed it and well, if you have any concerns tell me so that I can clear it up when I have the time.
> 
> Don't forget to give your kudos, bookmark, subscribe, and/or comment about what you think. I really appreciate all the support that you guys give. 
> 
> Stay tuned~


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 'Stay safe Lance. I'll come back for you. Please just stay safe while I'm gone.'  
> \----  
> "It's like I don't even know you anymore. It's like you're not the Keith I know."
> 
> "Are you stupid?"
> 
> "I... I really enjoyed it too. It's good to have you back man. I missed you."
> 
> "It's good to be back. I missed you too."  
> \----  
> 'I knew I never stood a chance. I fucking knew I would never match up to Lotor and yet... why does it hurt so much to see her with him?'  
> \----  
> "I love you so much Keith. I love you. I love you. I love you. I've loved you ever since I saw you in the Garrison."
> 
> "Wait... but you hated me... and you liked Allura.”  
> \----  
> “Lance. Are you okay?”
> 
> "I knew you would protect me. We are a good team."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OH MY GOD! It’s been how many days since I last updated. I’ve been so stressed with school and it’s just the third week. I’m just adjusting to my new school and it’s hard to ween in any time to write this story but I’ve been trying my best. It’s not one of my best but that’s only because I’ve been under a lot of pressure that I find it almost exhausting to open my notes just to type this after every school day. 
> 
> You can expect updates ever twice a week now that I have school but I will try my hardest to update but it might not be possible because I write multiple drafts of a chapter before I am actually satisfied with the end result. I go through maybe 5-7 drafts each chapter just to make sure it’s up to my standards and there’s little to no mistakes. So I can’t guarantee that I will be able to update like I used to before but I will try.
> 
> I hope you enjoy this chapter. It’s actually full of flashbacks from Lance’s timeline so you get to sneak peek into how his life was before. I also inserted some things that happened during season six but tweaked it to my liking so I hope you guys like it. 
> 
> Anyway, ENJOY!

_His vision blurring out and the last thing he processed before he blacked out was Keith rushing towards him with Shiro followed close behind him, his husband looking panicked and angry while his leader looked worried._

_'I let my guard down.' Was the last thing that went through his mind before he succumbed to the sweet pull of sleep on his figure._

\----

Keith rushed into the control room of the castle, the others following close behind him. They stopped at the entrance of the room to see Coran laying on the ground a few feet from the entrance, a few bruises littering his body as the Altean struggled to sit up.

"What happened?!" Shiro exclaimed worriedly as he and Hunk rushed forward to help him up to not further his injuries. "Ugh... I'm not sure." Coran spoke softly, his voice sounding groggy and rough as they all turned to look at where the explosion came from.

The large cloud of smoke in front of them cleared and Allura let out a gasp of despair, "The Crystal!"

A small shaky gasp of pain diverted their attention away from the damaged crystal and to where the sound originated to see Lance fall forward on his knees, his back and legs pierced with shards of the Balmera crystal and a large burn mark where the explosion made contact with him. Keith's eyes widened in horror when he saw Lance wounded, blood pooling underneath him from the open wounds on his backside and he rushed towards the tan male, barely registering the footsteps following hot on his heels. He saw Lance's eyes flutter and a small tilt of the latter's lips downward as pain flooded the man's face and he fell forward heavily.

Keith quickly knelt beside Lance, being careful as he pulled Lance into his arms and cradled him gently and Shiro took a place in front of Lance, worry evident in the leader's voice and eyes, "Lance..? **Lance!** "

Keith swallowed down the lump that appeared in his throat roughly when Lance barely gave any indication to them that he heard Shiro's voice, the only sign that he was even alive was his shallow breathing and the quiet whines of pain that escaped his parted lips.

"We have to get Lance to the infirmary!" Pidge exclaimed, her eyes glazing over slightly with tears in fear at the sight of her surrogate brother figure so lifeless and bloody. "Without the crystal, the Castle has no power." Allura bit her bottom lip as she looked over to Pidge, her concern for the blue paladin obvious in her tone.

Keith tuned out the rest of what was being tossed between the others, staring down at the pain filled expression on Lance's face and feeling his heart clench painfully at the sight. He gritted his teeth as he shifted his gaze over to Shiro after the Arusian King explained the situation of his village to them, "Shiro, take care of Lance. I'll go help the Arusians."

Shiro nodded slowly with a hint of confusion in his body language but didn't question it as Keith carefully and gently maneuvered the unconscious male to his brother figure.

Lance twitched slightly, his eyebrows furrowing up in pain as he let out a small groan of discomfort.

 _'This doesn't look good one bit.'_ Keith grumbled in his head as he ran towards the Arusian village, Allura and the King following closely behind him. The red paladin clenched his fists tightly as he ran out of the castle, _'Stay safe Lance. I'll come back for you. Please just stay safe while I'm gone.'_

\----

Lance's eyes snapped open and he looked around the place. He blinked slowly as he tried to grasp his location when he realized – after a few minutes of blankly staring at the dark blue sky that was littered with stars – that he was in the astral plane, more specifically, where Blue's conscious was. He turned on his heel when he heard a soft growling to see Blue towering over him.

Blue lowered herself to lay down on her belly, keeping her head in between her paws and near Lance as she purred, " _My paladin._ "

"Blue. What's happening? I got knocked unconscious didn't I?" Lance asked as he approached the mechanical cat to get closer, reaching a hand out to touch her light blue nose. " _Yes you did but you are safe here. Black's cub is taking care of you just like last time. Your mate was taking care of you for a bit before he had to leave to help the locals._ " Blue answered back, purring softly at feeling her paladin rubbing her nose lovingly.

"I need to get back Blue. They need me." Lance mumbled softy as he looked up at his lion. " _I cannot send you back yet paladin. Your physical body took critical damage that it is not capable of handling yet and I am unable to heal you as quickly as I usually can since you are unconscious._ " Blue answered mournfully, her tone laced with worry and concern.

Lance frowned as he asked, "When will you be able to send me back?"

" _At this rate? Maybe a couple of dobashes or a varga at the least._ " Blue answered softly and Lance sighed before he nodded, succumbing to his fate. "Okay. Try and get me back before Sendak hurts Pidge. I need to get back and help my family."

" _I'll try my hardest my cub._ " Blue stated firmly as she started glowing a bright light blue hue, lifting her body up so she was once again towering over Lance. Lance sighed as he took a seat in front of the mechanical lion, closing his eyes as he allowed his mind to drift off. He didn't take notice of the way a light blue circle seemed to glow underneath him or he didn't care.

_Lance was sitting in the observation deck of Lotor's ship, his knees pulled up to his chest and his chin resting on his kneecaps and he seemed deep in thought as he looked out the windows that allowed him to view the stars that they flew past._

_"Hey Lance. What are you doing holed up in here?" Lance tensed up slightly when he heard a very familiar voice._

_"You're never usually this quiet and you're usually with Hunk talking his ear off. Is something the matter?" Keith asked as he approached the other male. Lance's eyes followed Keith's figure quietly, his face blank before he turned his face away from the pale male but kept his eyes plastered on the other, "I.. No, nothing's the matter."_

_Keith stared at Lance with a blank yet disbelieving look on his face and Lance, being how he is, was deterred by the look and silence from the other before he groaned, stretching his legs in front of him as he spoke, "Ugh! I don't get it okay?! I just... You came back. I'm thrilled, heck, I'm practically bouncing at the thought of you joining us again but... I didn't expect you to come back like..." Lance lifted a hand and gestured to Keith and Keith raised an eyebrow at him._

_"Uhhh. You just gestured to all of me?" Keith questioned slightly, his expression displaying the confusion he was feeling at the vague gesture as Lance let out another groan of frustration, "That's the point! You changed! In like, what? A few days? It's been a few days since any of us has seen you and well, you changed so much. It's like..."_

_Lance slowly lowered his previously wildly gesturing hand before he muttered softly, sounding dejected, "It's like I don't even know you anymore. It's like you're not the Keith I know."_

_Keith stayed silent, staring at the Cuban who only stared back before Keith asked bluntly, "Are you stupid?"_

_" **HEY!** " Lance screeched out in indignation, insulted at the short and blunt question, "I was trying to be honest and open with you! See if I ever try and confide in you ever again."_

_Lance huffed, turning to face the windows and the endless black abyss littered with white before the two settled into a tense silence. Lance adjusted his position to get more comfortable before Keith spoke up, "You do know that I am still the Keith you know right? I'm not any different. Just because I changed physically, looking older than you knew from before, it doesn't mean that I'm any less of the Keith you know."_

_"... I know. It's just, so much has changed, you know like Allura and Lotor getting along so closely and then Pidge and Hunk dismissing what I think and feel because I'm just the... just the goofball of this group and well.. Shiro is acting strange and unlike himself. I just thought that if we ever did get you back on the team, we'd, I don't know, act the same around each other, like nothing ever changed." Lance muttered softly, still not turning to face Keith as he continued rambling, "But, you changed. It's like, you're older and more mature. You aren't the hot-headed, impulsive, sword wielding red paladin that I know. I don't know how I should interact with you anymore. Do I have to change how I act around you and to you? Or do I stick with what we had before...?" Lance ended his rant with almost a whisper that Keith probably wouldn't have been able to hear if it wasn't so quiet in the room._

_Keith shuffled slightly to sit beside Lance, his shoulder brushing against the other's slightly causing the tan male to tense up at the contact as the Marmorite spoke, "It doesn't matter how you act around me. To be honest, I actually really enjoyed the thing we have."_

_'_ Curse you heart for racing. _' Lance felt his heart flutter at Keith's wording and he could feel the distinct heat that was radiating off the other male. "What do you mean?" Lance asked softly, his voice barely above a whisper in fear that if he spoke too loudly, he would break the moment they were having._

_"I'm talking about the rivalry we have. You know, our petty arguments." Keith replied as he pulled his knees up to his chest, wrapping his arms around his shins as he placed his chin on top of his knees. "I really enjoyed us arguing and the fights we had. It made me feel... involved. I don't really get along with others, that much is obvious. You know, with me being the loner of the group." Lance turned his head to look at Keith but the other male was avoiding eye contact, content with just staring out the window at the constellations that was out, "You made me feel involved. Whenever I would try and shy away from the team, you would always pull me back whether it be by annoying me and forcing me to join your fights or by wrapping your arm around my shoulder to keep me in place. You always included me and well... I really enjoyed the time I got to spend with you... And the others."_

_Lance watched as a small pink flush appeared on Keith's cheeks and Lance felt his own cheeks flush at the sight, the sound of his heart beat over powering everything else and Lance coughed awkwardly slightly, looking away from the beautiful image of Keith just in case he did something that he would regret, "I... I really enjoyed it too. It's good to have you back man. I missed you."_

_"It's good to be back. I missed you too." The two stayed silent, unaware but simultaneously hoping to whatever deity was out there that the other could not hear the way their hearts were pounding in their chest._

\----

Keith ran towards the Arusian village, his grey-violet eyes narrowed as he looked around. An explosion erupted as he skidded to a stop where the other Arusians were looking at their village burning down to the ground, their eyes wide with fear.

"What's happening?" Allura asked as she, too, skidded to a stop beside Keith whose eyes were darting around the place. "Look! Attackers!" The King exclaimed, pointing off to a part of the village and Keith instantly shifted his eyes to narrow at the area where the alien was pointing at.

"I'll go in for a closer look. Stay here with them." Keith ordered as he glanced over to Allura who looked surprised as he slid down the cliff they were perched on to get to the burning village. "Keith!" Allura exclaimed, shocked as she reached out her hand slightly to the red paladin who ignored her plea. Keith made sure that his helmet was securely in place and clicked shut as he pushed off the cliff, activating his jet pack to soften his landing to the ground.

He avoided the numerous burning buildings as he made his way towards the Galra sentries that were stationed in place, his grey-violet eyes narrowed. He peeked out from behind a wall and was confused into why the sentries seemed to just be standing in a circle, perfectly still. He looked closer as the soldiers seemed to topple over, "What...?"

"Oh no." Keith's eyes widened as he reached up, activating his com to alert Allura of his findings, "They tricked us! It was just a diversion to separate us and thin out the castle defenses!" Keith made his way back to safety, reaching Allura in no time from the adrenaline that was pumping in his veins, _'Whoever is responsible for separating me from Lance will pay. No one hurts Lance and gets away with it.'_

Keith's mind went into overdrive as he and Allura made sure that the Arusians were safe and instructed them how to save their village before rushing back to the castle.

\----

_Lance let out a small gasp of pain when a bright purple ray grazed his shoulder, pain exploding in the area where the ray made contact with his armor and he barrel rolled out of the way, just in time to avoid getting shot in the head._

_He positioned his blaster so that there wasn't any strain on the shoulder that got shot. He quickly took aim at the Galra sentry that shot him and pulled the trigger of his blaster and, in an instant, the blast cut clean through its robotic head._

_He was about to charge forward – hell bent on finding Pidge and Hunk who got separated from him during the fight – when he heard a very familiar scream of agony. His blue eyes widened and he turned on his heel, heading straight for the direction of the scream, " **ALLURA!** "_

_Lance scrambled through the brightly lit purple corridors, his eyes frantic and wide with worry as he looked for the princess. He took a deep breath in before breathing through his mouth roughly when he heard a distinct whimper coming from the corridor he was standing in, down the hall at the very end._

_He quickly rushed towards the direction of the sound, sticking to the wall when he saw the door of the room wide open. He peeked around the doorway and his eyes narrowed when he saw Lotor standing over Allura, the princess on her knees in front of him with the emperor's sword positioned underneath her chin, tilting her head upwards and looking ready to slit her throat open._

_Lance felt the urge to squeak in distress before pushing the sound back down, clutching at his blaster tightly. He looked around the room, formulating a plan in his head while keeping an eye at the two in case the Altean princess was in any danger. Lance felt his heart clench in pain when he heard Allura's whimper that was filled with remorse and pain, "Why...? We trusted you. **I** trusted you."_

_"You are a fool princess. The way you are able to trust others so easily will end your reign over this universe." Lotor growled, his grip on the handle of his sword tightening but he didn't make any other sign that he would hurt Allura. "I loved you!" Allura sobbed, droplets of crystal like tears falling from her light blue eyes down her tan cheeks. Lotor tensed up at the proclamation and his grip on the sword seemed to falter from the confession before he tightened his hold once again, – to the point that his hand clutching the sword started shaking – his forehead scrunching up as he growled, "Love? You do not love me. No one has ever loved me. Not my mother and most definitely not my father."_

_Allura let out a gasp of sadness, staring up at the emperor as she whimpered, "Please Lotor. Don't do this. Your parents may have not loved you but I do. Please. I know you hold the same affections for me that I do for you. Stop pushing me away. Stop trying to be someone you aren't. Stop trying to be the Galra your father wanted you to be. Pleas just be Lotor. The Lotor that the paladins and I got to know. The Lotor that I fell in love with, my Lotor."_

_Lotor seemed to falter, lowering the sword as he watched Allura slowly stagger up to her feet, gripping at her arm – something the Lance didn't notice the first time – and Lotor didn't make a move to hurt the princess, just staring at her with blank eyes. Lance clenched his jaw tightly at the sight of the princess' blood and he was ready to return the favor to the emperor. He felt his heart shatter to pieces and the overwhelming ache in his chest spread when Allura stepped into Lotor's space, surprising the Galra when she wrapped her arms around his neck to pull him down into a searing kiss._

_Lotor's grip on his weapon slackened and the sword fell to the floor with a loud clatter from the shock of the kiss and he seemed to freeze up, his blue eyes wide as he stared at the closed lids of the princess before he relaxed into the kiss and wrapping his arms around the princess' waist to pull her flush against him. Lance felt his heart clench painfully at the sight of the Altean princess kissing the Galran Emperor and he slowly stepped back, tears prickling at the corner of his ocean eyes._

_He turned on his heel and rushed down the corridor, away from the room where the two were. He gripped his blaster tightly to the extent that the gloves of his black flight suit were pulled taut over tan knuckles. Lance ignored the stinging in his eyes and the pain that was overwhelming his shoulder as he rushed back to the others. He ignored the sound of Lotor's booming voice, ordering his side of the war to join sides with Voltron once again._

_'_ I knew I never stood a chance. I fucking knew I would never match up to Lotor and yet... why does it hurt so much to see her with him? _'_

\----

Keith's eyes widened when he saw a barrier slowly blanketing the castle and instead of the calming blue glow of the castle that he grew familiar with and he thought of fondly due to it reminding him of a certain paladin, it was replaced by an intense and ominous purple.

He quickened his running speed, hoping to reach the castle before the barrier was fully in place. He felt alarms ringing in his head as the barrier shut him and the princess out. He pushed his forearms against the barrier before bringing a fist down against the shield angrily, "We're too late."

" **NO!** " Keith yelled, a bit delirious from fear and anger before he stole a glance over to Allura. "They have control of the castle. They're taking Voltron." Allura's bright blue eyes were wide with fear as she looked up at her precious ship being taken over by the species she most despised.

Keith growled as he shifted his hand to hover over the storage unit that was located on his suit's thigh area. His bayard instantly took its place in his hand and he activated it to form his sword, "Can we break through the barrier?"

"No. And whoever's taken the castle has a crystal, which means that they can fly the ship. We have to stop them before it's too late," Allura growled, her eyes fixed on the castle's purple shield as Keith asked as he shifted his gaze to look at the castle as well, "Okay, but how are we going to do that?"

"Keith? Can you hear me?" Keith's grey-violet eyes widened at the sudden small voice that whispered in his ear. "Pidge! Is that you? Where are you?" Keith asked, looking down to the ground as he conversed with the green paladin.

"I'm inside the castle. Sendak has taken over the castle and he's preparing for launch. He's got Lance and Shiro!" Pidge's voice sounded in the sword wielding paladin's ear and Keith resisted the urge to tighten his fist when he heard who took over the castle, _'That bastard!'_

"Pidge, listen. If they started the launch sequence, then we don't have much time until lift off to stop it." Keith looked over to Allura to see a worried expression cross the princess' face. Keith tuned out Allura's voice as she instructed Pidge in what to do in order to stop the ship.

_'Just wait Lance. I'm coming to help you.'_

\----

_Lance pulled away from Keith, his ocean blue eyes blown wide as he stared into equally wide grey-violet eyes. Keith had a small smile on his face that lit up his entire face and Lance couldn't help the goofy grin that made its way over his face._

_Lance rested his forehead against Keith's and he murmured softly, his breath fanning against Keith's swollen lips, "I love you so much Keith. I love you. I love you. I love you. I've loved you ever since I saw you in the Garrison."_

_"Wait... but you hated me... and you liked Allura." Keith muttered under his breath, his eyes shifting to look at his lap as a frown graced his lips. Lance felt his heart ache at the sight of the red paladin with an upset look on his face and Lance lifted a hand up, tilting the other male's face up so that they made eye contact, "I never hated you. I... I just never showed it because I was afraid about how much I could feel about you. I've never felt like this for anyone and it scared me. I tried to hide my attraction for you with the dumb rivalry we had and always tried to divert my crush on you to others like Allura but... but it never worked. You always crawled back into my heart and well, I'm glad I never gave up on my attraction on you." Lance leaned forward to peck his lips and Keith smiled, "Now do you still doubt my feelings for you?"_

_Keith shook his head before he slowly lifted himself off of Lance's lap and spoke, "I'm sorry that I have to cut this short but I need to talk with Allura and Lotor about the Blades next move."_

_"Hey! I just confessed and made out with you and you already want to leave me? That's harsh. Even for you Kogane." Lance mock pouted as he stared up at Keith who was towering over him. Keith rolled his eyes playfully at the other paladin before he knelt down to be eye level with Lance as he muttered breathily, "I'll be back before you know it you big baby. Just wait for me. I'll come and find you once I'm done with my meeting with Allura and Lotor."_

_Lance sighed as he watched Keith rise to his feet, running a hand through his thick brown hair, "Fine. I'll go find Hunk. I need to tell him about how I got my rival to become my boyfriend."_

_Lance saw Keith freeze up, staring at Lance with a blank look on his face and Lance blinked in confusion into why the Galran would freeze up. Lance thought back to his words before he flushed a bright red and he started spluttering, trying to save himself from humiliation, "I-I mean! You know, uh, boyfriend. As in a friend. That's a boy! Which you are. You're my friend and you're a boy so you're my boy fr—"_

_Lance was unable to finish his gibberish like talking when Keith surged forward, practically body slamming himself at the Cuban. Lance let out a manly (Read: girly) yell at the sudden shift of weight as he was pushed to lay flat on his back. Keith connected their lips roughly causing their teeth to clatter against each other painfully and Lance let out a small groan of discomfort from the sting that accompanied the brutal show of affection._

_Lance slowly softened the kiss before he pulled back a bit, his head hitting the training deck and he asked softly and shyly as he looked at Keith, "So, umm... Is that your way of saying you'll be my boyfriend?"_

_"Yes." Keith smiled brightly, his eyes sparkling as he nodded frantically and his voice sounding breathy, "Yes. I'll be your boyfriend you dumbass cargo pilot."_

_"I resent that." Lance growled teasingly before switching their positions and clashing their lips in a heated kiss._

_"Lance! Get off!" Keith laughed cheerfully when they pulled away from the kiss, only for Lance to litter his flushed face with little playful kisses, "I need to get to Lotor and Allura. I'll be back and then we can continue your aggressive form of affection." Keith chuckled as Lance slowed down his display to peck him on the lips lightly._

\----

Lance's eyes snapped open and he looked around the astral plane to see Blue with her head lowered on her paws in front of him. Blue purred loudly in happiness, " _My cub! I am able to send you back for a bit but it's only enough for a few dobashes. After that, you will be knocked unconscious just like before because I can't heal you properly while you are here._ " Blue growled in slight frustration at not being able to help her paladin.

Lance sighed before he nodded gratefully up at his girl, "That's more than enough girl. I need to help as much as I can. I am not allowing my family to get hurt because I was careless to forget such a big factor that happened before." Blue purred disapprovingly, " _It is not your fault. You are under a great amount of stress and you are upset. If the green paladin or the Altean Empress were here with you, they would understand as well. You have no one to help you or remind you until you can get the green paladin's brother back. It's normal to forget things. Don't beat yourself up over it._ "

"Thanks Blue. I really needed that. I don't know what I would do without you beautiful." Lance mumbled thankfully up at his lion before he reached a hand to her metallic nose. He closed his eyes and allowed her essence to wrap around him and before he knew it, he could feel the telltale signs of waking up. His body twitched when the pain from before hit him like a sucker punch to the gut.

He forced open his eyes, muffling the moan of pain that bubbled in his chest and wanted to make itself known. His vision was blurred from what seemed like never-ending pain that was accompanied with him waking up from his coma and he blinked to clear his vision, pushing back the pain long enough to process what was going on. His eyes widened when he saw Pidge clasped in Sendak's hold, almost like she was about to be crushed by the robotic arm she was cocooned in and to be honest, Lance didn't doubt Sendak's ability to go through with it.

He moved his aching muscles, determined to help and make sure that his family was safe and would make it out alive from this. He shifted his hand to hover over his storage unit and called his bayard forward. He shifted the bayard to take form as his blaster and positioned the gun, He took a deep breath in – his breath hitching from the pain that was swelling in his chest and his back – before he pulled on the trigger with the little strength he had.

The blast made contact with Sendak's back and the Galra was forced to let go of Pidge and drop the disguised girl to the ground. Lance fell back, his eyelids drooping slightly but he forced himself to stay awake in case the others needed him. The corner of his lips tilted upwards when he saw his husband rush forward, sword drawn and he muttered softly, being careful not to draw Shiro's attention to him, "Go get him babe."

Lance's eyes slowly shut, a small smile playing at his lips as he felt the sweet pull of sleep when he heard Keith's voice, "Lance..."

"Are you okay?" Lance's eyelids fluttered open to reveal pain filled ocean blue eyes and he stared up at Keith. Lance slowly reached a hand out for his husband who took it to tug as he helped Lance sit up. Keith knelt beside Lance and Lance lifted his head, his eyes softening up as he pushed away the pain and tightened his grip on Keith's hand, "I knew you would protect me. We are a good team."

Keith's eyes softened up and a loving smile appeared on his lips. Lance felt the pull of gravity on him and before he could stop himself, he was falling forward. He thought he was about to hit the ground hard and he braced for impact and the pain he knew would accompany the fall. His eyes fluttered slightly when he was pulled backward and his head was cushioned against what felt like a slightly hard pillow.

Fingers raked through his short brown hair and Lance hummed slightly in pleasure and bliss before he mumbled, "So warm... Keith."

He felt the pillow he was leaned up against tense up and only did he realize it was Keith's chest he was resting his head against which only made him more impulsive, probably due to the buzzing in his mind and the loss of blood but he wanted to savor the moment since he knew this might be the only time he will get close to his husband in a long time.

He shifted slightly so that his face was buried into the crook of Keith's neck and he placed a light kiss – one that he was sure the other barely felt – against the length of his neck.

He slowly succumbed to sleep, a small smile gracing his lips as he felt his weight being shifted and arms wrapping around his waist firmly but gently and the push of lips against the crown of his head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OKAY! So that’s done. Like I said, this isn’t my best work and I’m actually really disappointed in how it turned out. But i didn’t want to leave you guys waiting for another week for a chapter so I posted this. 
> 
> Tell me what you guys think. Whether it’s just by giving kudos, or bookmarking it, or subscribing to it. I really appreciate it. Although I would like to hear some feedback so a comment wouldn’t hurt. 
> 
> I want to improve and I accept constructive criticism but I will delete a comment if it’s hating on my story and won’t help me improve. Thank you so much for the love and support this story is getting. I enjoy writing this as much as you guys may enjoy reading it. 
> 
> If any of you have any questions regarding the story, don’t hesitate to ask. I will try and answer to you as soon as possible and I will try and answer only if it won’t spoil the story. If you have a suggestion that you guys would like to see like Lance’s timeline or someone’s relationship with Lance developing, please tell me. I will shout out and/or credit you if you give me an idea.
> 
> Stay tuned~~


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I'm so sorry. I won't be able to stop the crystal taking over. I... I can't save your memories for Allura but I can promise you that I will be there for her, Your Majesty."  
> \----  
> "Y-You're not mad at me for keeping this a secret between... you know, the Garrison Trio?"  
> \----  
> 'Nyma, Rolo, and Beezer! I forgot about those three. Maybe.... hmmm.'   
> \----  
> "There isn't that much you need to know about me. You wouldn't believe what I have to say in the first place so there's no point in saying anything. Well, there is one thing that you need to know Nyma... I hate people who lie straight to my face and most especially, lie to my family."
> 
> "I need you to look into a specific working camp in sector SCI-4Y, it should be under Prince Lotor's command. I need you to get all the prisoners our of there, most specifically a human by the name of Samuel Holt, Commander Samuel Holt. I need you to get there as soon as you possibly can and get him out."  
> \----  
> "I wanted to see who your significant other was. The red one huh? He's cute. You two make a cute couple."
> 
> 'Good luck out there you three.'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AGHSHGHKASFJSADGSA!!! I JUST WATCHED THE FIRST EPISODE OF SEASON 7 AND I'M SCRE AMI NG! SHIRO IS CONFIRMED GAY SPACE DAD! HE HAD A BOYFRIEND ON EARTH WHOSE NAME IS ADAM! SHADAM! FUFFUFK!
> 
> I DON'T KNOW HOW TO FEEL. I SHIP SHATT SO MUCH BUT I ALSO SHIP SHADAM(?), ADASHI(?), SHADA(?). I DON'T KNOW HOW TO PROGRESS THIS STORY FOR SHIRO ANYMORE NOW THAT MATT IS OUT OF THE QUESTION! SHOULD I MAKE SHIRO POLY? SHOULD SHIRO, MATT, AND ADAM HAVE SOMETHING? DO I PUSH ADAM AWAY FROM THESE TWO? (You know cuz Adam broke up with Shiro?) OR DO I CHANGE THE OUTCOME AND MAKE IT SO THAT LANCE WASN'T ABLE TO GET MATT AND SHIRO TOGETHER AND INSTEAD CAME IN ADAM? I'M HAVING A CRISIS! 
> 
> But no matter what, I will always ship Klance/Laith no matter what becomes canon. I love these two too much to ditch them.
> 
> Also, any ideas about what to do with Shiro now? Cuz I'm almost clueless. I've had ideas but I'm not sure how comfortable you guys are with polygamorous relationships. (ShiroXMattXAdam?) 
> 
> Please help. I can't wait for Season 7 and I want to cry so much. 
> 
> PLeASe help me if my baby boy Lance sobs in Season 7. He deserves the world and I don't want him to cry.

_He slowly succumbed to sleep, a small smile gracing his lips as he felt his weight being shifted and arms wrapping around his waist firmly but gently and the push of lips against the crown of his head._

\----

"--what? The intergalactic time measuring competition?" Lance heard his husband's voice as the healing pod he was in unfroze and he fell forward slightly, managing to catch himself as he swayed left and right, moving back and forth in the medical bay as he tried to get his body to cooperate with everything else. "Yes!" Lance heard Hunk retort back to Keith and he only vaguely registered the off timed ticking sounds of the timer and the ticker.

He slowly swayed before he managed to straighten up enough to walk over to the group, stepping up from behind Hunk and Allura as he mumbled weakly, his voice groggy and rough as he blinked slowly down at the two ticking devices, "You guys having a clock party without me?"

"Ugh! Lance, you just ruined it!" Hunk exclaimed as he turned to look over his shoulder at Lance who only quirked an eyebrow at the yellow paladin, almost like he was waiting for Hunk to acknowledge that he was there. Hunk blinked twice up at Lance, seemingly only processing now that his best friend was finally out of the cryo-pod before he cheered excitedly, turning to pull him into a bear hug that pushed all the air that he had in his lungs out, "Hey! Lance!"

Hunk loosened the grip he had on Lance and Lance slumped against his large best friend, Hunk supporting most of the other's weight as Lance mumbled, trying to catch his breath as his head throbbed from the sudden lack of oxygen, "What... happened?"

The Cuban felt a small but firm hand pressed up against his back and he looked over his shoulder to see Allura with a bright smile on her face, "We can tell you all about it while you get something to eat. Are you able to walk?"

"Talking? Eating?" Lance mumbled in slight confusion before he finally registered her words, allowing a small smirk to appear on his face as he cocked an eyebrow at the princess, winking at her as he decided to teasingly flirt with her - although he was sure the other would assume he was actually flirting, "Are you asking me out on a date Princess?"

"And he's back." Pidge groaned weakly and Shiro's voice overlapped her groan with a fond sounding tone, "Yep. He's okay."

"Classic." Lance heard Keith huff and he looked over to his husband who had his arms crossed over his chest, a jealous and upset look on his pale face that was turned away from him. Lance's lip twitched slightly as he pushed back the very strong urge to push off Hunk and stroll up to Keith to kiss the frown off his face to reassure the other male of who his true feelings were for, just so that he didn't have to see his lover looking so upset over his not-so-subtle attempt at humor.

"Let's get you dressed number four and then we can all head to the dining hall for you to get something to eat." Coran spoke up, twirling his mustache around one of his fingers and the others agreed softly, each of them filing out of the bay as they left Hunk with Lance. "Your clothes should be over there." Hunk pointed off to the side and Lance followed the finger that Hunk was pointing out to see his bundle of clothes perched on top of a little hovering stand.

Lance walked over to the bundle and called over his shoulder, his back turned to his best friend, "Thanks buddy. You can go ahead. I'll catch up with you once I'm done dressing up."

"Okay. Sure. I'm going to go ahead and make sure Coran won't make you anything weird to eat like that  **healthy** paladin lunch he prepared for us before." Hunk coughed as he put emphasis on the word healthy. "Thanks buddy. I always knew I could count on you." Lance chuckled in amusement at the emphasis as he side eyed his best friend who only grinned cheekily.

"I'll go alert the others that you might be a bit late because we know you'll be busy doing your beauty routine." Hunk winked slightly before turning and waving at Lance. Lance waved back before dropping his arm to hang loosely at his side as the doors slid shut behind Hunk and the distinct sounds of footsteps slowly receded. The Cuban sighed before slowly reaching behind his back, his lanky and long arms giving him the ability to reach the zipper of the cryo-pod suit before he pulled it off slowly.

He made sure he was careful when tugging on the zipper just in case he accidentally hooked his skin to the zipper. He peeled the tight suit off his body, making sure to be careful when peeling the fabric off his still sensitive back before allowing it to pool around his feet and stepping out of the pool of cloth. He reached over to the floating stand and took hold of his jeans, slipping his legs through and tugging it upwards and zipping it up. He reached over once again to take hold of his blue and white t-shirt, putting his arms and head through the holes before pulling it down to cover his lean stomach. He ran his fingers through his mussed hair to smooth it out after it got ruffled from putting his shirt on and he reached for his jacket, pulling it over his shoulders and snuggling into it.

He looked around the bay before he slipped his shoes on and bent over to pick up the healing pod suit, placing it in what looked like a chute that sucked up the suit presumably bringing it to the laundry room whatever it was called. He shoved his hands into his pockets before heading in the direction of the dining hall. He listened to the soft almost silent tapping off his shoes against the floor of the castle and he frowned when he saw a very familiar door.

"I'm so sorry." Lance choked out softly as he approached the door, lifting a tan hand to press against the cold surface of the door, "I won't be able to stop the crystal taking over. I... I can't save your memories for Allura but I can promise you that I will be there for her, Your Majesty." Lance lowered his head in regret as he pushed away the tears that wanted to surface and spill down his cheeks. He took a shaky deep breath in before he shook his head, almost like he was shaking away his bad thoughts as he removed his hand from the hand from the door and stuffing it back into his pocket in a tight fist. He turned on his heel as he walked away, his head still lowered.

He lifted his gaze when the door he stood in front of slid open to reveal the dining hall where the others were gathered. They all seemed to look up at the same time and Lance forced a smile on his face as he pulled his hand away from his pocket to wave, "Hey guys."

"Lance! My boy, come here. I'm sure you're starving." Coran gestured for the paladin and Lance strolled over to the table, taking a seat as Coran pushed a bowl of green goo towards him, "I never got to thank you number four. For saving me back there."

"It was nothing. I could have lived without being blasted in the back you feel me?" Lance joked as he picked up the spoon in the bowl and scooped a bit of the contents before bringing it to his lips. "Speaking of blasts, never do that again you hear me! I was so scared!" Hunk sobbed, tears gathered in the corner of his brown eyes and Lance felt his gut wrench at hearing his best friend worrying over him.

Lance placed the spoon back down into his bowl and tried to comfort the big man as best as he can, "Hey man. It's okay. I'm okay. I'm sorry for worrying you but I can't promise you that I won't do it again."

Lance turned his gaze away from Hunk when the yellow paladin nodded slowly. He turned his gaze to the mouse that was running around his food goo, squeaking away as Platt tried to beg the paladin to feed him. "We'd be Sendak's prisoner if it wasn't for Pidge." Allura spoke as he lifted a scoop of goo to his lips to swallow down.

Lance held out the spoon for Platt who eagerly dug into the goo on the spoon as Pidge replied back, "Well, you wouldn't have survived the explosion if Hunk and Coran hadn't gotten a new crystal." Lance smiled as he thought back to his consciousness in Blue's essence,  _'Well, I guess that's mostly true? They don't need to know yet of Blue's ability to heal. I'll deal with that when it comes to it.'_

"Wow, thanks everybody." Lance smiled softly as he looked at the others around him who were beaming at him. He turned back to look at his husband who was sitting in front of him on the table, his arms crossed. He quirked an eyebrow at Keith and said as he placed his forearms on the surface of the table, "Sounds like the mice did more than you Mullet."

"I  **punched** Sendak!" Keith glowered and Lance didn't resist the urge to poke fun at his half-Galran mate, "Yea. Apparently after I emerged from a coma and shot his arm off."

"We had a bonding moment. I cradled you in my arms!" Keith exclaimed, his anger flaring slightly at the short statement and Lance smirked, side eyeing his husband, "Well... Care to remind me again? I seem to have forgotten this  **cradling**." Lance ended his flirty statement with a wink and he held back the chuckle that wanted to bubble up when he saw the red flush that was crawling its way up Keith's neck up to his face.

"Anyway, what happened to Sendak?" Turning away from Keith, not giving the other male a chance to shoot back a retort, he he directed his question to Allura who pursed her lips, "He's frozen in a cryo-pod. We're keeping him here in the castle." Allura crossed her arms over her chest as she turned her head to look at the mouse that was perched on top of her shoulder.

"Are you sure that's such a good idea?" Lance frowned, his eyebrows quirking upwards as he looked at the princess, "You know, keeping him there unsupervised."

"He's too dangerous to be set free. Besides, we might be able to get some information about Zarkon from him." Allura replied as she uncrossed her arms and Lance slowly nodded, still not liking the idea of keeping Sendak in a cryo-pod when he knew the dangers of leaving the Galra. "So, what's the plan now?" Lance asked, placing his hand underneath his chin to hold his head up as he stared up at the future Galran-Altean Empress.

He shifted his gaze away from Allura to Hunk when his best friend spoke up, "We have to get back to the Balmera and save Shay and her people." Hunk looked away from Allura to look at the rest of his fellow paladins. Lance let a sly grin appear on his face as he teased his large friend, "Wow. You are really hung up on this lady. Any reason why in particular?" Lance winked at Hunk who flushed, his cheeks turning a slight pink color.

Hunk cleared his throat, looking embarrassed as he spoke, "Ugh! No, it's not like that. Look, you guys, when you see how Zarkon treats these people and how he destroyed their homes--They've been under his reign for so long they don't even know what it is like to be free. It's u[ to us to set this right.  _ **This**_ is what being a Paladin of Voltron is all about. It's time to man up and do what we can." Lance felt his throat clog up and his eyes get teary as he stared up at his best friend.

When Lance looked hard enough, he could see the faint outline of the Hunk that he worked and fought alongside with and that made his heart ache at the thought of his family that he left behind. Lance blinked back the tears, looking away from Hunk to look back at his bowl of goo to see that Platt had finished his meal and was laying on the table with a bulging stomach. From the corner of his eye, he saw Pidge frowning.

"Then let's get moving. Time to go defend the universe." Before Lance could ask Pidge what was the problem, Shiro interrupted and the rest of the team started to get up. Lance looked over to Pidge who instantly spoke up, halting Shiro and the others from moving any further, "Wait."

All eyes went to her direction and Lance could feel a fond smile appearing on his face, knowing what she had to say. "I have something to confess first. I need to come clean and... I'm afraid this may change the way you all think about me." Pidge spoke quickly, taking a deep breath as she looked down to the ground.

Lance could practically see and hear the cogs turning in her head as she pulled up the courage to admit, "Just so there are no secrets between us anymore. I can't  **man up**... I'm a girl."

"I-I mean, I can man up because that's just a figure of speech. I don't have to actually be a man to man up. I just have to be tough. But what I'm really trying to say--" Pidge rambled on, seemingly embarrassed of her confession and trying to mask it. Lance took pity on her, strolling up to her and placing a hand on her shoulder comfortingly. Pidge slowly turned to look over her shoulder and Lance smiled down at his surrogate sister, "It's okay Pidge. Nothing is going to change the way we think about you."

"I've known for some time, but I'm glad you've shared it with everyone else." Allura spoke up and Pidge turned back to look at the others. "Yeah. I figured." Hunk chuckled and Keith instantly agreed with the yellow paladin.

Coran leaned over, placing a hand on Allura's shoulder and gestured to Pidge with a finger, "Wait, w-we were supposed to think you were a boy?" Shiro shot a soft and understanding smile at Pidge, "Pidge, owning who you are is going to make you a better paladin."

Pidge sighed in relief, her shoulders sagging to relax her tense stance, "It's good to get that off my chest. Now, let's launch this Castle ship!"

Pidge cheered happily and the rest of the team chuckled fondly at their youngest member. Shiro, Keith, Hunk, Coran and Allura all walked out the door to the direction of the control room and Pidge turned slightly to look at Lance, her eyes still sparkling but unlike before where it was excitement, Lance could only see the fear of rejection in her brown eyes, "Y-You're not mad at me for keeping this a secret between... you know, the Garrison Trio?"

Lance smiled softly, retracting his hand that was on her shoulder to place on her head so he had the ability to ruffle her brown locks and he spoke, his voice laced with a fond tone, "No. Of course not. I'm sure you had your reasons into why you hid it from Hunk and I. But, I've known for quite some time."

 _'Well, not the first time round. Only reason why I know now is because of my time travel experience.'_ Lance sweat dropped and he looked back down to Pidge to see tears gathering in her eyes. Lance's eyes softened up and he cooed, bringing the smaller girl to his chest to offer her some comfort, "Shhh. It's okay. No matter what you identify as. I will always support and be there for you. Okay?"

"When did you get so good with words? I thought you were just the goofball." Pidge chuckled weakly, her face still buried in his chest and Lance smiled, tilting his head downwards to press a small kiss on the crown of her head. Pidge's body tensed up at the gesture of affections and Lance pulled back, afraid that he overstepped his boundaries with this Pidge. Before he could apologize for his lack of tact and acting without permission, Pidge lifted her arms to wrap around his slim waist in a tight hold and she murmured quietly, "Thank you Lance. I always saw you as my surrogate older brother and knowing that you accept me even after lied to you for months really means a lot to me. I'm so sorry for hiding this from you for so long."

Lance chuckled and he said as he ran his fingers through her short hair soothingly, "Hey, don't worry about it. I already knew you would have a good reason why you were hiding it and to be honest, I'm very flattered you think of me as your surrogate older brother. I know I can never replace your real brother but if I can provide you with any kind of comfort, then I will welcome you with open arms. You tell me anything Pidge. I will always be here for you." Lance felt Pidge nod against his chest and he huffed slightly, "Anyways, I think we should get going. I'm sure the others are wondering what's taking us so long."

"Don't want to. Too comfy. How are you so warm and snuggly and yet so long and lanky?" Pidge muttered under her breath accusingly and Lance chuckled as he answered smugly, "Well. When you have a lot of family members, you have to learn to give good hugs." Pidge whined when Lance began to push her off him and he sighed before he chuckled, already used to how clingy Pidge could become. Lance shook his head fondly,  _'She may not look like it but she's so affectionate. It's a good thing I know this about her so that I can provide her with as much affection as she needs while she's looking for her family.'_

"Fine you big baby. Come here." Lance heaved the small girl into his arms before adjusting her so that she was on his back instead, holding back the flinch when Pidge's front rubbed roughly against his still sensitive and sore back. Pidge didn't seem to notice which Lance was thankful for as she wrapped her arms loosely around Lance's neck and wrapped her legs around his waist, keeping her chin propped against his shoulder, "Warm."

Lance smiled before he started walking in the direction of the control room where he was certain the others were getting the castle up and running if the slight humming and small tremors of the ship was to go by. He approached the door and watched as it slid open to reveal that the rest of the paladins have already taken their places in their respective seats while Allura and Coran were getting the castle ready for launch. "Dynotherms connected." Coran spoke up, his eyes darting across the control pad in front of him. Lance ignored the two Alteans and walked over to Pidge's seat, nudging her thighs slightly causing one of her legs to unwind from his waist as he mumbled, "Okay. Get off. I can't keep you on my back while we're launching. You might get hurt."

Pidge rolled her brown eyes at the obviously motherly and worried Cuban and she groaned as she slowly climbed off the tan male, "Ugh. You're so cuddly! I did not know what I was missing out on when we were back in the Garrison and you wanted to celebrate every go at the simulator with a hug." She climbed onto her seat and watched as a holo-pad appeared in front of her. Lance chuckled as he strolled to his own seat and buckled up just as soon as Allura commanded, "Firing main engines for launch."

Lance let out a small groan when the castle started to shaky violently, shifting the rocks that was attached to it and causing it to fall heavily into the waters below. The castle had activated its thrusters and shot up into the sky and Lance couldn't stop the grin that split his face when he realized how easy it was now to find Matt and Sam as well as contact the Blade of Marmora now that they were in the air and not sitting around on one planet.

Once Allura confirmed that it was alright and safe to leave their seats, Lance immediately unbuckled the strap keeping him to his chair and stood up making sure to stretch his arms over his head as he let out a small groan, "Man, my back is killing me." Hunk shot a look to his best friend and asked worriedly, "Are you sure you're alright? Maybe the cryo-pod didn't heal you all that well yet? Maybe you should go back in just to make sure?"

"Hunk, buddy, I'm fine. Don't worry." Lance shot a reassuring smile at his best friend who seemed to open his mouth in protest when Shiro interrupted, "Hunk. I'm sure Lance is fine. If there is anything wrong with him, I'm sure he will alert us immediately. Right Lance?" Shiro looked over to Lance who immediately nodded, "Yup. I'll tell you what's up if anything feels out of place."

Hunk seemed slightly reassured before he looked to the ground and started pacing in the room as Lance went over to sit on one of the steps of the bridge just like how Pidge did, "Okay. So, when we get to the Balmera, what do you think we should do? Do we just roll up and like, start blasting? Or do we land and have some kind of... I don't know, public address system, like," Hunk cleared his throat and deepened his voice slightly which greatly amused Lance who had a raised eyebrow, " **Attention, Galras. This is Voltron. Turn yourselves in!** "

Hunk had his hands on his hips as he looked at the other paladins who were staring at him with amusement before the yellow paladin deflated, "No. We're blasting, right?"

"Hunk. Calm down." Keith made a soothing gesture to try and calm down the panicked male and Lance smirked up at his significant other who leaned up against the wall, "And yes, blasting."

"Eh, it's our first big rescue mission. He's excited." Shiro looked over to Keith who turned his head to look at his brother figure. Lance attempted to ignore the little conversation the two brothers were having just by looking at each other as Pidge leaned back against her elbow and tilted her head back to stare at the bandanna wearing male, "Excited to see his new  **girlfriend** ~!"

Hunk squeaked in shock and he quickly tried to defend himself, although it was futile with the way his cheeks seemed to flame a bright pink against his dark skin, "She's not my girlfriend! She's just a rock that I met and I admire very much." He rushed as he looked away from his friends. Before Lance could even think to tease his large friend, alarms started blaring around the castle and he tensed up, not knowing or remembering what was happening,  _'Man, I should have finished reading through that phone Katie gave me.'_

Shiro turned to Coran and asked worriedly, "What is it? Are we being attacked?" Coran shook his head slightly but kept his eyes glued to the screen in front of him, "No, it seems to be a distress beacon."

"It's coming from a nearby moon. Apparently, a ship has lost power." Allura spoke as she scanned through the signal from the screen floating in front of her. "I wonder who it is." Pidge asked as she cupped her chin slightly in thought. Something went off in Lance's head and he muffled the gasp of shock and relief when he recalled what this certain event was,  _'Nyma, Rolo, and Beezer! I forgot about those three. Maybe.... hmmm.'_ A plan started to formulate in the time traveler's mind and he almost started to vibrate in excitement when he came up with an almost foolproof plan.

"--h must help  **ALL** those in need." Lance tuned back in after he finished finalizing his plan to hear Allura scold Hunk. Lance decided to take action and he stood up from his seat on one of the steps of the bridge, "This is so cool. We're like space cops on space patrol." Lance looked over to Coran whose eyes were darting over the light blue holo-pad in front of him, "Hey Coran. DO we have siren that we can turn on?"

"Uh, no. But we could record you making a siren noise and broadcast that to them." Lance detected the joking tone in the Altean's voice but he decided to take the bait, feeling it best to let out his childishness over the situation before he got serious, "Perfect!" Lance lifted a hand to cup his mouth and he started to make a siren alarm sound when his hand was forcefully clamped against his mouth, cutting off the noise he was making, "Nope. Not doing that."

Shiro spoke after forcing Lance's mouth shut and Lance's lips curled into a small pout once Shiro retracted his cyborg prosthetic hand away from Lance's mouth, "You're no fun Shiro." Lance grumbled away as he crossed his arms tightly over his chest. He felt a gaze burning on the side of his head and even without looking, he was already certain into whose stare it belonged to but he made no indication that he acknowledged the stare.

Shiro just shot a smug smirk in Lance's direction before he turned away to look at Coran. Allura guided the castle towards the moon where he knew the three freedom fighters were located. Lance uncrossed his arms, his eyes lighting up slightly when he saw the ground coming in view as Allura broadcasted loudly, "Attention, damaged craft! We are coming to assist you."

Once Allura and Coran landed the castleship, the princess directed her attention to her adviser, "Stay abroad and try to get as many of our systems clear of that Galra crystal energy as you can. We'll see who hailed us." Coran inclined his head slightly in his princess' direction in agreement, "Of course, Princess."

Lance immediately took his place at Keith's right side, like he always did without even noticing what he was, as they headed towards a pod. Lance was lost in his thoughts as he reviewed the plan in his head that he didn't notice what the other paladins were doing. Pidge and Hunk looked at each other before they shared a knowing look, identical grins on their faces. Shiro, on the other hand, took the opportunity that Lance wasn't paying any clear attention to his surroundings to shoot his younger brother a teasing smirk. Keith turned a slight pink color at seeing Shiro's all knowing smirk and the closeness of the Cuban.

Lance was pulled out of his thoughts when he felt the slight shaking of the pod landing on the ground and he watched as the pod doors slid open. Allura led the way, closely followed by Shiro and Lance saw Rolo and Nyma stand up from their places on the ground. Rolo was holding something that looked similar to a wrench but it was glowing a dull yellow as he spoke, "You don't know how glad we are to see some friendly faces. Most folks don't want to get tangled up with anyone who's on the run from the Galra."

"So, you guys are fighting the Galra?" Keith asked as they approached the other aliens. "Well, I don't think Zarkon is exactly quaking in his boots at the three of us, but we do what we can." Rolo uncrossed his arms as he introduced himself as well as the other two behind him, "I'm Rolo. This is Nyma, and our cyber-unit, Beezer."

Nyma lifted her head, her bright purple eyes sparkling with what Lance knew as hidden mischief and deception as she practically purred out, "Hi."

Lance blinked as he let his eyes cross over Nyma's figure, not seeing Keith eyeing him warily from the corner of his eye. Lance let a cocky grin appear on his face as he strolled up to Nyma, taking a hold of her hand and leaning forward slightly to place a delicate peck on the back of her hand, "Hey. Name's Lance."

Nyma giggled cutely but Lance could see how guarded she actually was. He also saw the looks that Nyma and Rolo shared when he backed up from Nyma's personal space. He pushed back the grin that wanted to appear on his face when the two smugglers singled him out from the others. "Was your ship damaged in a fight?" Shiro asked, drawing Rolo's attention away from Nyma.

"Yea. We've really been through it with the Galra. Parts are hard to come by." Rolo placed a hand on his hip as he turned to look at his "damaged" craft, "Luckily, we were able to limp to this moon about a week ago. If you didn't pick up our distress signal, I didn--"

"We're happy to help." Allura interrupted the male alien and Rolo turned back to Allura to stare at her in surprise as she stepped forward, "I am Princess Allura of Altea, and from now on, you won't be alone fighting the Galra. You'll have to paladins of Voltron by your side."

Rolo turned back to look at Nyma who was fluttering her lashes at Lance who was entertaining the female alien. Although Lance was laughing and flirting with Nyma, his mind was working on overdrive as he searched for an opportunity to get away from the others and lead Nyma away to reason with her. "Why don't we just get to work on your ship? I'm sure we all have places to be." Hunk interrupted in a rush, still panicked about the fate of his future wife and her people.

Lance thanked the stars when all the others' attention was diverted to Rolo who was discussing what went wrong in their ship and what was needed, getting help from Beezer for the list of things needed for their craft. Lance distanced himself a bit, walking over to a couple of boxes that were on the ground and he leaned up against the corner of one of the boxes. Lance ducked his head when he heard the familiar footsteps of the female alien to make sure she didn't see the smirk that was on his face. He lifted his head, watching Nyma heave herself on top of the box and he inclined his head in her direction, "So how did you end up with Rolo in the first place?"

"My family was taken away from me when I was just a child. I was on the run for a while until I met Rolo whose home planet was also destroyed by the Galra, we became partners so we always had each other's backs. It was only the two of us until we ran into Beezer." Nyma spoke softly and Lance could see her walls slowly crumble but the moment she trailed off, she straightened up and he saw her harden her resolve. She leaned in slightly to Lance and purred, "Enough about me. Tell me something about you Lance. You seem like a really great guy."

"There isn't that much you need to know about me." Lance shrugged as he tilted his head to look up at the sky that was dotted with bright stars before he murmured, "You wouldn't believe what I have to say in the first place so there's no point in saying anything. Well, there is one thing that you need to know Nyma..."

Lance tilted his head back to look at Nyma with hard eyes, his once bright blue eyes froze over and turned a stormy blue almost like storm clouds over a dark ocean, "I hate people who lie straight to my face and most especially, lie to my family."

Lance saw the way Nyma tensed up from the sheer intensity that was in his eyes and she seemed to choke on her words from the intimidating aura he was letting out. Before she could do anything else besides stare at the time traveler in fear and shock, the dark look in Lance's eyes disappeared just as soon as it appeared on his face and he shot her a bright smile like his change of mood never happened, "So, what happened to your ship?"

Nyma was having difficulties coping with how quickly Lance changed his mood and she stayed silent, blankly staring at Lance who blinked at her in expectation. Nyma swallowed roughly before she cleared her throat, "Well, our thermal pipe got cracked when we took heavy fire from the Galra and we barely managed to escape unscathed. It was really fortunate that someone as handsome as you picked up on our distress signal."

Nyma purred as she scooted up to Lance, getting her game on. Lance shot a glance over to the other's direction to see everyone all focused on Rolo except for Keith. Keith was looking in his direction from the corner of his eye and before Lance could call out to Keith, Keith shifted his gaze away with a slight huff. Lance sighed fondly, already used to his husband's huffy and jealous behavior before he looked back to Nyma who was fluttering her lashes down at the blue paladin. Lance leaned up slightly, his eyes hooded as he spoke lowly, "It's not everyday a cute girl says I'm handsome."

Nyma giggled but Lance could see how uncomfortable she looked since Lance knew of her relationship status with Rolo and doing this probably made her really awkward especially since said alien was a few feet away from them. Nyma leaned down a bit while Lance leaned up, allowing his breath to fan against her ear, "Sorry to burst your bubble Nyma but I'm loyal to my lover and don't plan on cheating on him anytime soon. Also, I don't buy any of your bullshit about your ship being damaged from the Galra."

He pulled back to see the fear in Nyma's bright purple eyes and Lance raised an eyebrow when she cocked her head slight to Rolo's direction before she tapped her wrist against the box she was sitting on in a certain pattern. Lance saw Rolo tense up and the male alien turned his head slightly to their direction with a worried look on his face. Lance whispered softly to the point that his lips barely moved, "Calm down. I have an offer for you and Rolo that I feel like you won't be turning down anytime soon."

"What could you possibly offer to me that the Galra can't?" Nyma hissed lowly, her eyes daring back and forth like she wanted to bolt away from the blue paladin. "What if I knew where your family and Rolo's family is?" Lance stated calmly, his eyes never once leaving her face. Nyma's eyes widened and she slowly made eye contact with the Cuban. "Our... family?" Nyma stammered out as she lowered her guard, her stance seemingly allowing Rolo to calm down and focus back on Hunk and the others.

Nyma turned her head to face Lance and Lance tilted his head to the side in a small gesture of submissive to show Nyma that he wasn't a threat. Lance muttered softly, his eyes never once leaving her purple eyes, "Yes. I know where your family is."

"How could you possibly know? You haven't even met us until now. And it's impossible that they're still alive. I'm pretty certain Zarkon killed them." Nyma spoke with narrowed eyes and Lance smirked,  _'There's the Nye I remember. Oh how I missed this sassy woman.'_

"I have my ways. Now, before I give you the information, I need you to do something for me." Nyma's eyes already narrowed eyes seemed to narrow down even more and Lance sweatdropped,  _'How in the universe is she able to still see me with those narrowed out eyes?"_ Lance cleared his throat in an attempt to rid his thoughts as he continued, "I need you to look into a specific working camp in sector SCI-4Y, it should be under Prince Lotor's command. I need you to get all the prisoners our of there, most specifically a human by the name of Samuel Holt, Commander Samuel Holt. I need you to get there as soon as you possibly can and get him out."

Nyma considered the offer before she nodded slowly, "Is that all you need us to do?" Lance shook his head and Nyma seemed to frown. "What else could you possibly ask of us?" Lance sighed before he leaned most of his weight against the box.

"I need you to get in touch with any freedom fighters out there as well as any rebel fighters. If we ever plan on bringing Zarkon down, we need all the help we can get. I have someone in the inside of the rebel fighters but I need to get in contact with him but I'm unsure when I can get to him so I need you and Rolo to recruit." Lance tilted his head and Nyma nodded her head curtly, "That is all you ask of us?"

"Yes, that and to keep in touch with me to update on your findings and your progress. None of my friends know I'm doing this so this has to stay a secret between you, me, Rolo, and Beezer. Got that?" Lance narrowed his eyes at Nyma who hummed her agreement although a bit hesitantly. Lance relaxed his shoulders and said, "Now, about your family and Rolo's family."

Nyma seemed to straighten up as soon as he spoke and he smiled softly, "Rolo's family should be located in one of the mining camps in sector VOR2-6 and your family should be in one of the working camps in sector 3I-DRL. I have the coordinates of their location uploaded in a drive so that you will be able to find them easily. I there are any other prisoners there, I need you to smuggle them out. Get as many allies as you can on our side. After you look at the three planets that I gave you, I want you to continue your work in freeing prisoners."

"Understood. You better not be lying to us Lance." Nyma's frown deepened and Lance chuckled, "Why would I lie? I have nothing to gain from telling you lies. Besides, I need you to get Commander Holt. Why would I entrust you with someone I need to find if I'm just going to betray you?"

Nyma smiled, seemingly satisfied with his answer before Lance pushed himself off the box to stretch his arms above his head before lowering his arms once they popped loudly, "Remember, none of my friends know what I know. So you can not tell anyone about it until I say that you can."

"Aren't they your friends? Why can't you tell them?" Nyma asked, curiosity seeping into her tone and Lance chuckled sadly, "Because... they don't really know who I am. Until they know who I am, I need to work in the shadows so that they won't be put in danger."

"You seem to care a lot about your friends." Lance nodded as he turned his head to look over at his fellow paladins, his eyes fond as he stared as Hunk pulled the hatch of Rolo's ship shut and pushing it in to secure it, "Of course I do. They're my family. I would do anything to keep them safe. Even if it means risking my own life."

"Hey Nye! Our ship is ready to go. Everything good there?" Rolo called over and Nyma nodded. Lance turned to Nyma and took hold of her forearms to help her down. Nyma wrapped her hand around Lance's hand before pulling him towards the others. Nyma smiled brightly as she nodded, "Yeah! Are we reading to depart?"

Rolo frowned and he seemed to talk to Nyma through small gestures that weren't noticeable to the others but Lance certainly picked up on the strange and unnecessary movements. Rolo tapped on his elbow a couple of times as well as shifting his weight around a bit while Nyma tapped her foot against the ground and tilting her head. Rolo relaxed before he turned to Lance and held his hand out, "It was nice working with you."

Lance smiled before he reached out to shake Rolo's hand, making sure to slip the drive that contained the coordinates to Sam, and Rolo and Nyma's family as well as the hailing number located in the blue lion. Rolo retracted his hand away from Lance and stuffed his fist into his pocket as he turned to head to the ship, Beezer following close behind the male alien. Nyma turned her head to look at Rolo before she turned back to Lance. She smiled cutely as she murmured, "Thank you for keeping me company Lance. It was nice talking to you. I hope you will keep your word true. I will see you soon."

"Yeah. Trust me. You won't regret listening to my words." Lance winked, shooting finger guns in Nyma's direction and Nyma just giggled at his actions. Lance blinked in surprise when Nyma surged forward and pulled him into a hug as she mumbled into his shoulder, "I wanted to see who your significant other was. The red one huh? He's cute. You two make a cute couple."

Lance's eyes widened and his cheeks turned a bright red as Nyma pulled away, pressing a kiss on his already flushed cheek. Nyma turned on her heel and lifted her hand in a gesture of farewell. Lance got his body to cooperate with him ad he chuckled slightly, "I'll see you again soon."

"Guess I was wrong about them." Lance turned his head to look over at Hunk who had his arms crossed over his large chest. Lance tried to avoid looking in Keith's direction but Keith was standing right in front of Keith and Lance couldn't stop the painful clench in his chest when he saw the broken hearted look on Keith's face from Nyma's advances. Lance gulped before he pushed back his guilt as he shrugged, "Don't worry Hunk. Your instincts are usually right. I never doubted you one bit."

Lance lifted his head to look at the craft as it rose off the ground and into the sky before flying into the distance at neck breaking speeds.

 _'Good luck out there you three. Get Commander Holt out safe. I wish the best that you get your families out in time this time around.'_ Lance smiled in the direction the craft disappeared off to and he quickly turned to catch up with the others who called him. He quickly sided up to Keith, throwing an arm around the older male's shoulder with a large grin to comfort and reassure him - even if Keith didn't know it yet. Keith tensed up from under Lance's arm before relaxing, taking the affection with stride except for the light pink blush on his cheeks. The other paladins shook their head fondly at the two obviously pining males.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SO that's it! How did you like that? I was really stressed over the Shiro thing because I wasn't sure how to progress the story for his relationship sooooo Help? If any of you have ideas, it is greatly appreciated. Also, to those who will diss about Adam, please don't. I just met him and I love him already. 
> 
> (Can you guys see the parallels in Shiro and Adam's relationship in Keith and Lance's relationship? Because the first time I saw Shiro and Adam on screen together, I immediately thought of LAITH? Or is it just me?)
> 
> Anyway, give kudos, bookmark, subscribe, or comment what you think. I greatly appreciate comments especially if they will help me improve so feel free to type what you think but please no hate. I do this for fun and I hope you guys will help me improve instead of poking fun at my writing. All and Any hate comments will be instantly deleted. I do reply to your comments so if you have questions or need to clarify something, don't be afraid to comment.
> 
> Thank you all for the unlimited support. I apologize if this story is so slow going.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Yeah! Okay, let's do this! Let's go kick some Galra butt!"  
> \----  
> "I'll be back girl. Stay safe okay? I have a husband to protect, well, not like he really needs protecting.":  
> \----  
> 'Aww. I missed how blushy he used to be when I flirted with him.'   
> \----  
> "Maybe Rolo? I mean, he was kind of shady if you think about it."
> 
> "No. It couldn't have possibly been them. I trust Nyma to know that she wouldn't betray me--us."  
> \----  
> "What in the world is that?"
> 
> "...Trouble."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SEASON 7 KILLED ME! Okay, Imma just rant for a bit, you can ignore this if you want. 
> 
> I was really upset over season 7 but I'm not angry at the Voltron cast or any of the writers. I'm upset about Dream Works. I'm not even sure if it's Dream Works that stopped any LGBTQ content into Voltron but I was really upset. Don't get me wrong. I'm really REALLY okay with Allurance and Kaxca and I will support it if it becomes canon. I just don't like how rushed it feels. Kaxca is very self-explanatory like Keith never showed any interest in girls and even if the creators actually wanted him to be straight, they should have developed his and Axca's relationship a bit more so that fans wouldn't feel like it's too rushed. Now Allurance, I'm not going to hate on this ship. I actually don't mind it. In fact, I will read and watch it if I was in the mood. I support this ship just as I support every other ship. But I didn't like how rushed it was. Okay, before any of you roast me saying that it wasn't rushed like Kaxca sine Allura and Lance had moments all throughout the 7 seasons and it wasn't as rushed as Lotura.
> 
> Let me talk about why I think Allurance is rushed but Lotura wasn't despite Lotura having like what two season together? When they were showing Lotura, they showed the progress of how it came to be. Like the beginning of Lotor's feelings and Allura's feelings, they showed us the progress of the two and how they interacted, and they finally showed how the ship sunk (which I was really angry at because I wanted Lotor to be the good guy). We saw how Lotura progressed and that's why a lot of the fans don't think that Lotura was rushed. However, when it comes to Allurance, during season 6, it showed us how Allura didn't reciprocate Lance's feelings when the mice snitched on him and then suddenly, she has feelings for him when Lotor get abandoned in the quintessence field. It never showed anything that could contribute to her suddenly having feelings for Lance except maybe him sacrificing himself to save her but that was like for what two-three minutes of screen time.
> 
> Basically what I'm trying to say is that Allurance and Kaxca seems a bit too rushed and that's what's angering most of the fans not just because of "queerbaiting" but because they didn't progress these ships so that fans could become used to the idea of them together.
> 
> ALSO! LET'S TALK ABOUT QUEERBAITING! The Voltron cast and writers did NOT queerbait and I can not put enough emphasis that they didn't queerbait. I mean sure they killed Adam, trust me I'm as angry as ever other fan that they killed Adam, but that doesn't make Shiro any less gay just because his boyfriend/fiance died. Stop threatening or hurting the Voltron crew just because of this. The Voltron fandom is so toxic that sometimes it makes me cry because I hate seeing how much hate is spreading especially to the Voltron crew who did nothing wrong. I know fans are angry because of ships and the like but that doesn't give us the right to hate on the people who are making Voltron a reality. 
> 
> So please, please, please, to any of my readers, I hate seeing how my favorite cartoon is getting so much hate and sometimes I just feel like giving up on this fandom but I put so much love and effort and time into being dedicated to this fandom that I can't bring myself to leave. I just beg that none of you are negative in how you feel about Voltron and its crew.

_'Good luck out there you three. Get Commander Holt out safe. I wish the best that you get your families out in time this time around.' Lance smiled in the direction the craft disappeared off to and he quickly turned to catch up with the others who called him. He quickly sided up to Keith, throwing an arm around the older male's shoulder with a large grin to comfort and reassure him - even if Keith didn't know it yet. Keith tensed up from under Lance's arm before relaxing, taking the affection with stride except for the light pink blush on his cheeks. The other paladins shook their head fondly at the two obviously pining males._

\----

Lance's blue eyes narrowed out as he stared at the slowly approaching broken planet that he once remembered to be thriving beautifully with bright crystals littering its surface. "We'll be arriving at the Balmera soon. Liberating these Balmerans from Zarkon's grasp will not be an easy task." Allura spoke, her bright blue eyes full of determination.

Lance shrugged before he asked in a playful tone, his eyes sparkling with mischief, "So, what's the plan? We go in there and just--Pow, pow, pow!" Lance imitated a large gun, mockingly so as he gestured wildly with each sound effect that escaped his lips, "--And free the prisoners?"

"What was that noise?" Keith asked from Lance's right side, staring at his - not that the half-Galran knew yet - husband with an exasperated expression and Lance placed a hand on his hip, tilting his head back to look at his lover with a smirk, "Laser guns."

Lance tilted his head away from Keith when Hunk spoke up, "No, Lance, I think you mean--" Hunk bent his knees slightly as he motioned with his large arms to imitate a cannon as he made loud machine gun like noises, "--Pow!"

Lance rolled his eyes and he stated bluntly, his eyebrows raised, "That sounds like fireworks buddy." Lance blinked as he looked over to Pidge who spoke up, "Technically they sound more like--" Pidge lifted her clasped hands and made finger guns, "Ba-choo, ba-choo, ba-choo!"

Lance could see the agitated look on Allura's face as Shiro scolded them with a firm tone, "Okay! Enough with the bad sound effects." Lance rolled his eyes, a soft smile playing at his lips as he stared at his brother-in-law,  _'Wait for it.'_

"Besides, it's more like--" Shiro started making quick gun motions, switching the way he was facing with each sound that escaped his lips, "Blam, blam, blam!" Lance stifled a chuckle when Keith practically screeched, "What?!"

"You're crazy." Pidge groaned as she eyed Shiro's kneeling form in front of her and Hunk agreed with the green paladin wholeheartedly, "Nuh-Wrong!" Before the petty little argument could get out of hand, Allura stepped in with her eyes shut like she was trying to reel herself back in from doing something, "Paladins. Focus."

Hunk frowned as he gestured to the large planet, "Besides, we can't just shoot at the Galra. This Balmera, it's like it's alive. And from what I can tell, it doesn't look very good." Coran agreed with the yellow paladin as he pulled up a heat image of the Balmera, "Yes, it's outrageous what the Galra has done to this grand beast. Stealing its crystals, its very life force, without ever performing the energy rejuvenation ceremony to heal it."

"After seeing Shay and her people enslaved, it made it so clear how bad Zarkon is and can be." Hunk looked downtrodden as he stared at the image of the Balmera before his eyes shifted to look at Shiro, "And we're the only ones who can stop him."

Shiro had a small frown on his face and Lance could see the gears turning in the black paladin's head as he looked out the window of the castle to look at the Balmera, "Okay. So we can't go in there guns blazing." Shiro turned to face the team and Lance tensed up when he saw Shiro's game face on, "Plan B. We figure out how to draw the Galra out the tunnels and to the surface and battle them out there."

Lance looked over to Hunk when the large male spoke up excitedly, "Oh wait, I know! If we destroy all of their mining stuff on the surface, they will have to come out to defend it. Then we beat them up, head down to the tunnels, Voltron saves the day."

Hunk looked especially proud of his plan, his arms crossed over his chest with a smug smile on his face. "But how will we be certain that there aren't any left down in the tunnels?" Keith asked, his eyebrows drawn together.

"We can track down the Galra and the Balmerans using Biothermal Life Indicator Point technology." Allura produced a hologram of the egg shaped like drones with legs and Pidge's eyes widened in excitement as she surged forward, adjusting her large round glasses as she stared at the hologram, "Oh, BLIP tech!"

Allura looked perplexed as she stared at the only female paladin and Lance adopted an affectionate look on his face as he stared at two of his surrogate sisters interacting. Pidge shifted her eyes to Allura who was still silently confused and the shorter girl's eyebrows quirked slightly, "..It's an acronym?"

Pidge leaned back as Allura spoke up, pushing the image of the BLIP tech to hover in the middle of the control room, "One of you will need to fly around the Balmera and drop the sensors into the shafts on each side." Lance watched with interest as the hologram image imitated the words the Altean princess spoke. "Then we'll be able to pinpoint where the Galra and the Balmerans are located. There are sensors already built into your suits so tracking you down will not be a problem."

"I can do it. I modified Green with the invisible maze's cloaking ability. I should be able to fly around the Balmera unnoticed." Pidge spoke, her head turning to look at the other paladins to confirm her idea.

Coran moved his hand over his controls and zoomed into the image of the Balmera's surface, most specifically on the large Galra tech, "That's their main power generator. If you take that down, it will severely weaken their defenses."

Allura shrinked the image of the tunnels of the Balmera as she spoke up, shifting her hand to hover at her side and typed into a key holo-pad that seemingly appeared out of nowhere underneath her dainty fingers, "We'll stay in cloud cover and give tactical support." Lance turned to look at the holo-image of the castle that appeared in front of the princess, a few circles hovering over certain parts of the ship that was damaged, "With the Castle's defenses weakened severely from Sendak's crystal, we won't be of much help to you." Allura swiped the image of the castle away with a small frown dancing on her lips.

"I'll take out the power generator," Shiro said as he looked over to the image of the Galra generator before he turned to face the other male paladins, "Keith, Lance, Hunk, you three take out those big mining rigs around the area."

Hunk cheered loudly, raising his arms above his head to punch the air and Lance's eyes softened at the sight of his best friend who was practically bouncing with excitement at the aspect of saving his future wife and her people, "Yeah! Okay, let's do this! Let's go kick some Galra butt!"

Lance turned on his heel and rushed to his room where his paladin armor was strewn about on his bed. His mind was reeling as he thought about the whole event currently happening, trying to make sure he didn't forget any details no matter how minor it was in fear of getting one of his beloved space family members hurt because of his carelessness and ignorance. He quickly suited up before rushing to the control room going down the chute that led to his lion. Blue purred loudly when Lance entered her cockpit, pushing the pilot's chair to the helm. 

Lance let out a groan when he felt the intense tremors of the castle entering the atmosphere of the Balmera and Blue pushed a wave of comfort in his mind as he fiddled with her controls, nervousness racking his lanky figure.

"You ready team?" Shiro asked through their coms and Lance smiled when everyone, including him, gave their affirmations. Before Lance could say anything, probably something to lighten the tense mood like a delivering a bad one-liner, Blue launched out of her hangar forcefully causing his words to catch at the back of his throat. Lance shoved Blue in his consciousness and Blue let out a series of thrums to show her amusement.

The lions flew down towards the surface of the Balmera as the Galra tech started to fire purple flower shaped rays at them.

"This is it. Get your heads in the game team." Shiro commanded as they all dodged the numerous rays that were shot in their direction, "Remember, the Balmera is a living creature. Make sure you shoot at the Galra installations only and avoid shooting at its surface."

Lance watched out of the corner of his eye as Pidge broke away from the formation before Green vanished into thin air, leaving no trace of the lion behind. He shifted his gaze back to the task at hand as he twisted Blue's controls to avoid the rays flying past him. He activated Blue's tail laser, destroying a couple of the Galra weapons before he let out a cheer which got cut off when Blue automatically twisted in the air to avoid a stray purple ray.

He thanked her silently as he watched Hunk slam Yellow against a few of the installations and activated his com to the yellow paladin, "Good one Hunk!"

"Thanks Lance. Hey, watch out!" Lance quickly maneuvered Blue out of the way and called out to Hunk, "Thanks. Now let's get blow this popsicle stand!"

Lance's eyes shifted over the installation with a frown as he muttered under his breath to not draw attention to himself, "I never realized how many of these things are there the last time." Lance looked over to where the black lion was hovering to see Black materialize a blade that was clenched between its large metallic jaws. Black flew down towards the main power generator, slicing through the large towers that were powering the whole mining facility.

Lance saw the generator start up from the leftover power it preserved and how it started shooting at the red lion who avoided the attacks gracefully. Lance called out, his tone laced with a small hint of worry that was barely noticeable, "Be careful Mullet."

"Be quiet Lance. I know what I'm doing here." Keith answered back haughtily as he continued to dodge the rays. Lance saw Red stop, opening his mouth before shooting a large ray of flames at the largest tower in the vicinity to the point that it melted. Keith let out a small gasp as he spoke excitedly, almost like a child which warmed Lance's heart - and face, "Whoa! Did you guys see that? I got fire power!"

Lance smiled fondly as he mumbled softly, "Yea, you sure got fire power because you're so damn hot babe."

"What was that Lance? I couldn't hear you." Hunk questioned and Lance panicked, his face flushing as he stammered out nervously, "I-I said that I want that!"

 _'Dios Lance. Why are you so thirsty? Can't you go one day without thinking of how hot your husband is?'_ Lance groaned in his head as he ran his hands down his face in exasperation at his desperation but before he could continue torturing himself for his inappropriate thoughts, the tower began to crumble. "Oh no!" Keith and Lance gasped as they watched the tower fall towards the surface of the Balmera.

"Hey, we can't let this thing hurt the Balmera!" Hunk flew Yellow underneath the tower and struggled against the heavy weight of the tower even after activating extra power to Yellow's thrusters. Lance heard Blue's loud purring and Lance spoke up, catching the attention of his fellow paladins, "Blue knows what to do."

Lance flew Blue away from Red's side and Lance pushed Blue's controls hard causing her to open her mouth and activated her ice beam, coating the whole tower so that it stayed upright and in position. Once Lance was sure that Blue got the whole tower to stay put, he couldn't help but smirk as he bragged, most specifically towards Keith to grab his attention, "Ha-Aw, snap! Did you see that Keith? I got ice powers since I'm so cool."

"Shut up Lance." Keith growled and Lance rolled his eyes fondly as they flew their lions to land on the icy surface of the tower, "How about you shut your quiznack Keith?"

"I don't think you're using that word correctly." Keith scoffed and Shiro interrupted the two before Lance got the chance to either retort back in a rude manner or flirty manner, "Knock it off you two."

Lance tapped his finger against Blue's controls and she purred soothingly, trying to reassuring him that nothing could go wrong although she herself was unsure of the possible outcomes. "Where are all the troops? Why aren't they coming to the surface?" Keith asked in confusion when nothing occurred, no Galra ships emerging from the large holes in the ground and practically no other signs of life.

Lance looked over at Blue's dashboard when Hunk's image appeared, the large male looking worried as well as confused, "Yeah. I remember seeing a lot of Galra sentries down in the tunnels the last time Coran and I were here."

Allura's face appeared beside Hunk's on Lance's dashboard and she commanded, her eyes not looking at them but off to the side, "We've located a hangar full of Galra fighters just below the surface. Someone has to go and take those out before they have the chance to launch."

"They're luring us down to the tunnels, but we have no choice." Lance tensed up when Shiro's face appeared on his screen, "Keith, Lance, you two hit the hangars. Hunk, head to the prison to rescue Shay and the other Balmerans. Pidge and I will track down the other Galra soldiers." Shiro ordered the team to the assigned task and Lance nodded his head slightly, tightening his grip on Blue's handles.

He called out his affirmation as he followed Keith down one of the mining holes. He landed Blue beside the slightly smaller lion and patted her dashboard comfortingly, "I'll be back girl. Stay safe okay? I have a husband to protect, well, not like he really needs protecting.":

Blue purred in agreement as she automatically pushed the pilot's seat back to allow Lance to sink through the floor and into his speeder. He took hold of the controls and watched as his speeder descended to the ground. He pushed the controls to follow Keith who pushed ahead of him and they silently navigated through the dark tunnels with only the instructions that Coran and Allura provided.

Lance observed as Keith's speeder started to slow down and he did the same, pulling on the controls gently until they came to a halt. The roof of his speeder disintegrated and he clambered out. Keith was already ahead of him, sliding down the steep hill of dirt and he followed right after his lover. He knelt slightly as he scoped the whole hangar with a critical eye only to be interrupted by Keith speaking, "The entire hangar's only being guarded by a few sentries."

Lance blinked in surprise when Keith pulled out his bayard and transformed it into his red and white sword, "Let's go!" Keith was about to rush in like he always did when Lance quickly put a stop to it, reaching over and pulling the other male back by the collar of his suit, "Whoa! Calm down Keith. Remember what Hunk said about the Balmera being alive?"

"Oh. You're right." Keith frowned as he stored his bayard back into its storage unit.  _'I forgot this Keith is still too hot-headed and prone to jumping without a plan. Unlike my Keith.'_ Lance sighed as he lifted a hand to his temple before he inclined his head to the side, "Yea. So we really can't rush in without a decent enough plan to keep us alive."

"Well, you got any idea cargo pilot?" Keith growled, slightly irritated at Lance and lashing out on the dark skinned male causing Lance to sigh. "First of all, not a cargo pilot. And secondly, yes I do." Lance motioned towards the hangar's control room and continued, "See that over there? We'll sneak in and shut down the bay doors. That way, the ships will have no way to escape."

"That--" Lance allowed a smug smirk to appear on his lips when Keith gaped, speechless as he stared at Lance with wonder in his large grey-violet eyes, "Actually is a better idea."

"Don't worry about it buddy. Let's go." Lance smiled cheekily and took the lead this time, slowly and quietly walking across the bridge that lead up to the control room. Lance could feel the heated stare directed at his back as he led the way, turning to look over his shoulder to wink at Keith while a playful smirk played at his lips. Keith flushed a bright red as he darted his eyes elsewhere.  _'Aww. I missed how blushy he used to be when I flirted with him.'_ Lance cooed as he took immense pleasure in seeing his dark haired lover turn into a blushing mess from a mere wink and smirk.

Lance turned away and looked around, his head tilted upwards before he reached his arms up and tugged on the cover of an air vent that was located a bit further from where the control room was. He grunted as he heaved himself up with the use of his long arms before reaching slightly to help Keith up. Keith took hold of Lance's gloved hand and Lance took a deep breath in before tugging the current red paladin up. They silently navigated their way towards where Lance vaguely remembered the control room was, Keith leading the way.

Lance wrapped his fingers around one of Keith's ankles and tugged as he muttered once the other male turned to look over his shoulder at him, "Where are you going? It's over here."

Keith rolled his eyes as he wiggled his ankle out of Lance's grip, positioning his hand over the storage unit for his bayard to call his weapon out, "I know where I'm going."

Keith used his bayard to silently slice a hole underneath them before retracting his weapon. Lance used his weight against the hole Keith made before the whole thing gave way, accidentally crushing the sentry that was stationed at the head of the control room. Keith slowly swung down from the ceiling as Lance spoke, "I'll keep an eye out for any guards. Try and find a way to shut the bay doors."

"Wait. What? Me?" Keith asked in confusion as Lance took out his bayard, transforming it into his blaster. "Uh, yes, is there anyone else here besides that crushed sentry who looks like he has had better days?" Lance rolled his eyes as he slinked away from his husband, positioning himself near the window with his blaster at the ready.

Lance vaguely listened to Keith's muttering under his breath as his lover tried to decipher the control pad, "Uh... Maybe I should just..."

Lance looked up when alarms went off and he saw the hangar doors shutting. The blue paladin grinned as he lowered his blaster and shot a thumbs up in Keith's direction, "I knew you would be able to do it. So what did you do? I barely understood a thing that was written on that control pad when I caught a glimpse of it."

 _'It is getting WAY too easy to lie to everyone. Even to my own husband. Does that make me a bad person now?'_ Lance frowned inwardly as he heard Keith's answer that sounded a bit muffled in his ears, "--my hand on the hand print."

Lance blinked when his com cackled to life, static ringing in his ear before Shiro's voice cut through loud and clear, "Lance, Keith, get to the core of the Balmera. Shay is being held captive there and we need everyone together to get through this fight."

Lance took a glance over to Keith who still had his hand on the hand print as the final bay door shut tight, "Copy that. We're on our way now Shiro."

Lance stood up from his kneeling position beside Keith and ran out the doors, hearing Keith grunt as he slashed through the console to render it useless. Lance stopped at the entrance, waiting for Keith to run through the doors before shooting at the lock of the door to make sure that no one would be able to access the control room.

Lance had a goofy grin on his face as the adrenaline pumped in his veins, happy that he had the chance to work and fight alongside his husband after almost five years of not having him by his side. Keith took a sharp right turn as Pidge's voice wafted through their coms, "Hey team, be careful. The Balmera is becoming very unstable."

Keith halted, Lance following his example in confusion before he saw the squadron of sentries in front of them. The sentries turned to look at them before firing at them nonstop causing the two paladins to jump out of the way and take shelter from the sudden barrage of blasts.

"Their shooting is hurting the Balmera. We have to do something to stop them!" Keith exclaimed over the loud hissing of the blasts flying past them. Lance was about to speak up when he heard the sound of muffled groaning as well as the ground beneath him shaking uncontrollably. "Well we can't shoot back hot head! We're just going to make it worse especially if we miss!" Lance frowned before he peeked out, looking around as he devised a plan in his head. He turned back to Keith before gesturing wildly with his hands and extreme facial expressions to which Keith just reciprocated with a mildly confused look.

Lance resisted the urge to smack his forehead at his husband when Keith finally understood Lance's plan after a moment of looking around. Lance took a deep breath in before he jumped out of his hiding place and into the open as he started waving his arms in a mocking way, making loud obnoxious noises to draw the sentries' attention.

He instantly activated his shield, taking cover behind it as the sentries started firing at him. Lance had his eyes closed shut tightly as he hoped that he didn't get hurt by any of the rays that were grazing past him. He slowly peeled his eyes open when he couldn't hear the hissing of the blasts flying past his shield and he straightened up, putting away his shield to see Keith smiling at him fondly.

Lance grinned proudly as he shot a thumbs up at Keith before rushing to his leader's side, swinging an arm around the currently shorter male's shoulder to pull him flush against his side, "Man, I was terrified that they were going to actually hit me."

"Maybe you should put your trust in me more, idiot." Keith rolled his eyes as he shrugged Lance's arm off his shoulders. Although Keith just insulted him, Lance heard the fond tone behind the term and Lance smiled fondly as Keith turned his back on the Cuban. Lance swooned quietly, his eyes burning a gaze at his husband's retreating form, "You don't know how much I trust you babe. I would trust you with my life."

Lance shook himself out of his lovesick state and rushed over to Keith, walking at his right side as they rushed towards the core of the Balmera where Lance knew the others were. Lance took out his bayard, transforming it into his blaster to keep at the ready before perking up when he saw the entrance leading to the core. He strolled in with Keith at his side before tensing up almost instantaneously when the doors slid shut loudly behind him as Hunk spoke up, "Not an ambush. More like a trap."

Lance frowned as he turned back to look over at Hunk who was standing way too close to Shay to be considered just friends. Lance resisted the urge to tease his large friend especially in the dire situation that they were stuck in. He bit his lip to keep from smiling when he saw Shay looking so young and alive and not worn down by the loss of her husband. "Whatever it is, keep your guard up. We can't risk anything." Keith spoke strongly from Lance's side and Lance instantly straightened up from the authoritative and commanding tone in his lover's voice.

"The Galra. They gained insight that you would return to the Balmera." Shay stated softly once she removed the gag that was restricting her ability to communicate. Shiro and Pidge jet packed down to land near the large bulbous of the Balmera as the younger of the two asked, "How?"

Shay turned to look at Pidge and spoke solemnly, "I know not. But they set this trap just for you. I was the bait." Shiro looked over to the others and asked with a tense and frustrated tone, "Who could have possibly known we were heading here to save Shay?"

"Maybe Rolo? I mean, he was kind of shady if you think about it." Hunk said softly and the time traveler shook his head furiously, tucking his bayard back into the storage unit located at his tight as he crossed his arms over his chest, "No. It couldn't have possibly been them. I trust Nyma to know that she wouldn't betray me--us."

Lance didn't take notice of the upset look that crossed Keith's face at the mention of the very beautiful alien that they met mere hours ago. "We have to figure out how to get out of here first." Shiro said as he turned around, looking around the large cave that they were trapped in for any possible escape routes to take. Lance uncrossed his arms as he too took in the large cave, wondering whether he should ask Shay if she could contact her family or let her reveal it herself.

Before he could come up with a decision, his com crackled to life and Allura's panicked voice sounded in his ear, "Paladins! You need to get out of there a soon as possible! We are surrounded by Galra ships and we're taking heavy fire! I don't know how much more we can take."

"Princess! Our particle barrier won't last much longer if this continues on!" Coran's stressed out yet muffled voice echoed faintly in his ear and Lance clenched his fists into tight balls,  _'Please hang on a bit more Empress. You too Coran. I can't lose you too.'_

"Okay. Allura, we'll get there as soon as we can. We just need to find a way out of here." Shiro frowned before he disconnected his coms. Shay clasped her hands in front of her as she stated meekly, "Perhaps my people can help us get out."

Shay approached the large core and placed her hand on it as she mumbled softly as she looked back to the paladins, "This is how my people communicate. The Balmera senses our vibrations and sends a message to those found in the tunnels." Keith looked unconvinced as he asked in slight hesitation evident in his voice, "Are you sure someone will be able to hear your... uhhh, hand, from all the way down here?"

Lance rolled his eyes at his significant other and fought back the urge to walk up to the currently shorter male and wrap his arms around the red paladin's waist to pull him flush against the time traveler's chest. "The Balmera will deliver my message."

Shay closed her eyes as she focused, willing the area where her hand was pressed against the Balmera to flow a bright orange-yellow color. Keith slunk back to where Lance was standing as he whispered softly as to not disturb the rock lady or call any attention to the two, "Uh.. you don't think she's... you know? Just playing around right?"

"Oh hush Keith. I trust that she knows what she's doing and besides, this might be the only way we will be able to get out of here and save the Balmera." Lance muttered back to Keith who scowled but didn't bother arguing back.

"Paladins! This lions are in danger! You must get back to them immediately!" Allura's voice echoed in his ear and Lance winced at the static that accompanied the sudden increase of volume. "Paladins! Do you copy? There's a battle cruiser locked onto the castle. If it fires with its ion cannon, I don't know if we will be able to survive."

Lance sighed as he reached a hand to scratch at the back of his head - well, more like helmet - to try and calm himself down, feeling his gut wrenching uncomfortably, "We're really trying, Princess. Shay's trying to reach out to her people but there isn't that much luck. I guess to answer your question, 'Yes, we copy.'"

"Shay, are you sure the Balmera is sending your message?" Shay seemed to concentrate even harder after Shiro spoke. Before any of them knew what was happening, one of the doors leading to the exit started to get crushed under its own weight and from the dust, Shay's family emerged.

Lance resisted when he felt the need to yell out at Shay's family in a very familiar greeting after years of doing it as Shay exclaimed almost thankfully, "Rax!"

"We must hurry. We know a shortcut through the tunnels that will lead you to your vehicles!" Rax urged them to follow them as Shiro called through the coms to reach out to Allura as they ran towards Shay's family, "Allura, stand by. We're on our way to help."

Lance quickly ran to where his speeder was parked, right beside Keith's and they both sped through the narrow tunnels of the Balmera to get to their lions. Lance growled deeply when he saw Blue getting lifted off the ground by the tractor beams from two Galra fighter jets. "Paladins, hurry! They're taking off with the lions!"

Lance forced his speeder to full power as he slipped through the hole that Blue opened up for him at the bottom of her particle barrier. Blue pushed him to the helm and he broke the large cat free from the Galra's rays, making sure to permanently damage the ships that were attempting to take his lady from him.

"Guys, did everyone make it to their lions in time?" Shiro asked through the coms and he and Red flew out of the mining hole to join Black and the others. "Oh come on Shiro. Who do you think you're talking to, a bunch of amateurs?"

Lance quickly maneuvered Blue, narrowly avoiding the mining structure that was blocking his path and Keith scoffed, "Nah, he's just talking about you, cargo pilot."

"Oh beat it Keith. You're just jealous of my  _ **hot**_ moves." Lance purred flirtatiously even though Keith probably wouldn't pick up on him hitting on him. Before Lance could try and push even more to hint of his feelings to Keith, Shiro interrupted him, "Okay team. Let's go!"

Lance pushed hard on Blue's controls to activate her thrusters towards the large fleet of Galra fighter jets that were firing purple rays at them. He maneuvered Blue out of the way of the beams as he activated her mouth canon to blow up a couple of jets that got in his way. Lance heard the loud pumping of his blood in his ears and he could feel the loud rumbling of Blue's purring from the excitement that she was emitting. He saw Keith activate Red's flamethrower and he pushed Blue to activate her own ice cannon. He watched with pride as the fighter jets exploded before small bits of the debris from the explosion fell to the Balmera.

Lance tensed up when he heard alarms blaring in his ear before Allura's terrified voice flooded through the coms, "Paladins! I need you immediately! Five more ticks and we're finished!"

"Okay team. Let's form Voltron!" Shiro's voice sounded in his ear and Lance nodded as he exclaimed with the team, "YEAH!"

Voltron flew towards the large battle cruiser before slamming against the underside of it, putting all their strength to tilt the ship upwards to divert the cannon's ray away from the Castle of Lions. Lance saw and heard the tell tale signs of the castle firing up and he pushed on his controls to push Voltron out of the way as the castle's beam penetrated through the large ship. The Galra cruiser exploded causing all the nearby and surrounding fighter jets to get destroyed from the large blast. 

The paladins all cheered in excitement and Lance could feel the lions' pleasure at the victory that they won as they hovered near the Castle of Lions. Voltron flew down towards the Balmera as the Castle followed them down to the surface. "Missions accomplished." Lance smiled at his husband's blissed out voice,  _'Aww. He's so adorable. My heart can't take it.'_

"And just in the tick of time too. The Castle's defenses are battered and will need time to fully charge before we can get into another fight." Allura's image on Lance's dashboard smiled happily before her smile was wiped off her face when the castle's alarms started blaring loudly.

Lance tensed up, his spine snapping straight as he gripped on his controls hard. "There's an unknown object incoming! It's about to crash land into the Balmera!" Coran screeched and Lance turned his head in the direction where he knew the impending threat was coming from.

Lance bit down on his lip hard, drawing blood as Pidge muttered under her breath, her voice sounding strained, "What in the world is that?"

"...Trouble." Lance's chest rumbled from the deep growl he emitted as he stared at the large cloud of smoke that gathered where the Robeast crash landed on the surface of the Balmera.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hoped you liked this chapter! I apologize that it was so short unlike my previous chapters but I really wasn't feeling it because of how much things were happening in the fandom. I felt the need to stop for a few days because I couldn't take how toxic the fandom was getting over season 7. 
> 
> I hope you guys didn't wait too long but I didn't want to write this with such a heavy burden on my chest so I hope you guys could understand.
> 
> I hope that even though it was short, you still enjoyed it. So please don't hesitate to leave kudos, or subscribe, or bookmark this story. Comments really help to encourage me and if you guys have any constructive criticism please don't hesitate to tell me. I really appreciate all comments but I will delete any comments that hate on anything either on ships or on other readers or Voltron crew members. 
> 
> Please spread the love and not the hate in the fandom. 
> 
> STAY TUNED~


	12. Author's Note

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> PLEASE READ

Hey guys! I know it's been a while from when you've heard from me but the reason why I haven't updated in a long time even after I promised myself to update once Season 8 came out was because I've been very busy with school lately. I know that isn't really much of an excuse but it's the truth. I just transferred schools so I was uncomfortable and also, never mind transferring schools. I moved places so it took me a while to get used to the new environment. 

 

So I'm actually writing this note not to inform you guys that I have given up on this story but that I plan on rewriting it to fit canon just a bit more. I don't plan on making it exactly like canon but it will have similar things. Also, I haven't actually watched Season 8 like the whole season. I just watched the first and the last episode and I decided I didn't actually want to watch the whole season because I was just disappointed. 

 

I hope you guys understand and that it might take a while but I do plan on rewriting this whole thing especially the first few chapters since I didn't like my writing style that time. I'll see you guys soon hopefully with newly updated chapters and new chapters. Thanks for listening and I'll see you soon. 

 

Thank you for all the support! It means a lot to me! 

 

Till next time~ Serpent-chan


	13. Author's Note Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PLEASE READ

Hey guys! I know it's been a while from when you've heard from me  **BUT** I have good news.

The first chapter of the rewritten version of To Save the Future is out and I would like to say thank you for sticking around. I know that a lot of you have been waiting for a NEW chapter however I wasn't able to deliver it and since Voltron finally ended, I'm now able to change this story to follow canon a bit more. 

You will notice a lot of things that are different such as how Lance is and how he talks. I mean, my writing has changed quite a bit since I didn't like how I previously wrote so I hope that you guys enjoy it. 

I also wanted to ask you guys about your opinion on something. You can drop your opinion here or in the comment section in the new story but I just wanted to ask if you guys liked how this story was going. Like was there to much detail or too little? Did it stick too close to canon for your liking? Would you prefer if I time skipped a bit and didn't focus so much on the little details because it dragged the story for too long? I would really like your guys opinion even if you know it might hurt me because I want to improve not only for my own sake, but also for the reader's benefit. 

This is just practice since I'm hoping to start writing my own stories in the future when I have more time, energy and money on hand. 

So if any of you have any opinion or anything and I mean  **ANYTHING** you guys would like to let me know, please don't hesitate to tell me. If you're too embarrassed to leave a comment as a user, you can leave it on Guest and I will still read it. I try to answer to all comments as quickly and efficiently as possible. 

Thank you guys for sticking around and I hope to see you in the rewritten version of this story which I renamed. 

Thank you all for your support! It means so much to me.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can find the first chapter of the rewritten version in my works so I hope you guys check it out. There's a couple of things that changed as well as the way I wrote it because I didn't like how I previously written it.

**Author's Note:**

> Any feedback is great such as kudos, bookmarks and comments. 
> 
> I also appreciate constructive criticism so don’t be afraid to point out mistakes so that I can improve. 
> 
> Thank you! Stay tuned!


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